Forgotten Through the Ages Rembered too Late
by shadowspinner1
Summary: Who are these people, freind or foe? And why is Danny having these broken images in his sleep? What does Vlad know that he doesn't?
1. Chapter 1

SS: I'm back. 

Raditz: and she is still crazy.

SS: Shut up.

OK, I'm only doing this once so hear me now. Butch owns all writes to a life he never lived, but happened to remember. He gets paid while I don't get any benefits. He is a dirty rotten monkey cheater. I'll just fill in the blanks.

---

"It starts." Vlad knew this was coming for a long time now. For the past 15 years he had waited, and now there was nothing anyone could do about it.

"This, is going to be interesting." Vlad smiled down at the newspaper. The headline was:

Danny Phantom strikes again: _2 million worth of damages_

---

"The people of Amity Park were shocked when the Phantom took down two buildings and several cars at three o'clock yesterday afternoon. Luckily, since it was a Sunday no one was in the buildings. Only five people were injured by the falling rubble. Witnesses say…"

_Click_. "A whole lot of BS." said Sam. She turns to look at Danny. "So what really happened?"

Danny had his face buried in his arms. "I don't wanna talk about it."

"Well it's not like you have anyone else to talk to about it." said Tucker without even looking up from his PDA. "Unless you count Jazz, but I think we all know how that would turn out."

Danny shuddered at the thought. Jazz would definitely not be a good person to talk to about it. Especially after the last time she tried to help. He did not want to spend another six hours in the Fenton thermos.

"Come on Danny, maybe we can help." Sam said as she sat on her bed next to Danny, looking down at Tucker playing snake at the foot of the bed. "Or at least I can help."

"I don't fully understand what happened myself. I was chasing the Box Ghost.."

"Two buildings over the Box Ghost!" Tucker cut in, finally looking up from his precious PDA, which had three payments on it.

Both Sam and Danny gave him a dark look. Tucker cowered and Danny continued, "Anyway, I was chasing the Box Ghost, who had gotten a hold of a bunch of boxes from the garage sale when I fired off a blast to hit him. Um… It didn't."

"So you had bad aim. It happens." Tucker shrugged going back to his PDA.

"No, the Box Ghost dodged." Danny defended himself. This was bad enough telling the two of them, but. But what if they didn't trust him anymore. Or worse…

Sam snapped Danny out of his thoughts. "So what happened to the buildings?"

"Um…"

"You said that already."

Danny looked at Sam and then sighed. "The blast hit the buildings."

"So?"

"And overturned several cars."

She stared at him for a moment. "Wait. You took out both the buildings and the cars with one blast?"

Danny nodded.

"On accident."

Danny once again buried his face in his arms.

"Whoa." Tucker got up. "You took out two buildings DBZ style? Do you know how cool that is!"

"Tucker, that is not cool, it's bad. People got hurt, remember?" Sam turns to Danny, "So what happened to the Box Ghost?"

"Heh. Funny story there, he got away. I was so shocked I kinda forgot about him."

"You just need to learn more control and focus."

That wasn't it, he knew it. But… "Yeah you're right.' He stood up. "Listen, I need to get home and do that homework Mr. Lancer gave us today."

"Need any help?"

"I've got Jazz. See you in the morning." and with that, Danny flew through Sam's wall. Her parents still weren't happy with him, so he as usual, elected to avoid them.

"I think it wasn't just control."

Tucker looked at Sam. "Huh?"

"You saw how he was all day."

"Nervous about Dash?"

"No!"

Tucker shrugged. "I'm sure he will be fine." He walked to the door. "I'm getting jerky, want any?"

"Ew! No!"

Tucker laughed as he ducked the pillow thrown at him, and then went down stairs for his meat.

---

Sam knew something was up, she could feel it. No one had seen hide nor hair, or was it ecto energy nor overalls of the Box Ghost, since Sunday. It was now Thursday. Come to think of it, not many of the other ghosts had shown up either. Sure there were always the shadows and the minor ectoplasms that were always around, but none that could understand two words strung together.

Then there was Danny. He had been quiet, and constantly phasing through things. She knew that he hadn't had problems with that since that time she had accidentally wished that she had never met him.

She was his best friend. Ok, there was Tucker, she mused, but on something like this he should tell her. Maybe he was still upset about Sunday, but with the phasing, it could cause problems. Especially with Valerie, and the teachers, and Valerie, and his parents, and Valerie…

"Danny, if you're going to phase though your locker, just grab your books and get it over with. Don't bother with trying to open the locker. Somebody is gonna see you fidgeting and wonder if you're on drugs."

Sam turned to Tucker in shock.

"What?"

"You actually said something useful. And it sounded eerily like myself. Don't do it again."

"Well YOU should have said it sooner. Besides if we don't move, we're going to be late." Tucker looked down at his PDA. "We have two minutes and fifteen second to get to class and it's on the other side of the school."

Danny jumped, "Tucker! Why didn't you tell me!" The boy took off toward class.

Sam called him back. "Danny you still haven't… never mind I'll get them for him."

"I just said to hurry up." said Tucker.

---

Danny twitched. It was starting to ache again. It started in his stomach and moved up to his heart. Then it traveled though the rest of his body all the way to above his head and below his toes.

He looked down. Sure enough his hands were glowing ever so slightly. Go away, GO AWAY. Crap. It's still there. No one would notice of course, except Sam and Tucker and maybe Valerie too.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Sam look at him. She saw the glow, he knew it. Good thing Valerie didn't have math with him.

It was starting to hurt more than it had the other times. It worried him that Sam was right, he was losing control. He stared at his notes scribbled across the page and tried to push back the feeling he was going to explode.

Suddenly a light shines at the end of the tunnel.

"Mr. Fenton, you look as if you don't feel well." The short teacher didn't notice the glow, but did see the glazed, almost possessed look of his eyes.

Danny jumped at the chance. "My stomach hurts." Well not the whole truth, but close enough.

"Would you like to go lay down?"

Tucker shuddered beside him but Danny nodded.

"Take your stuff."

None of the kids thought that Danny could move that fast.

---

Danny didn't go to the nurse's office. He didn't think that she would know anything about half dead ghosts. The light had increased its glowing, making him look the ghost he half was. He checked the halls. Seeing no one, he let the white rings wash over his body, and nearly fell over.

The icy shock was not the numbness he was used to. He took a breath as the feeling passed. It was like jumping into a lake of melted snow. He didn't think that the lockers threatening to rattle off of their hinges would be appreciated by the school staff, so he phased though the ceiling and headed to the outskirts of town.

The past week had not been a good one. Mr. Lancer alone had handed out enough homework to kill a person. To top that off, he hadn't been feeling well since the Box Ghost incident. Maybe it was just stress. He had heard somewhere that your body could react in strange ways under stress, like heart attacks. Though he doubted anyone had ever had trouble controlling ectoplasmic energy before. Well, maybe Vlad.

The lack of ghosts was something he didn't even notice. Between homework and nightmares, worrying about ghosts was at the bottom of his list.

'Wait! What was that?' He neither sensed a ghost nor Valerie. There was no one else that got up into the air. He stopped, hands glowing green as he scanned again.

It was big, very big, he could feel it. 'But where?' He flew toward where he thought he saw it. 'Gone. What the…? Things are getting to weird.' He half expected to wake up in bed, the pass week nothing but a dream.

Resuming his flight to the outside of town, he tried to clear his head. Last night he had woken the house with his screaming, which shook the entire block. His parents had determined it was a ghost, which it kinda of was, and went hunting for it. Jazz had bugged him about what was wrong, but he wouldn't tell her. It wasn't the usual nightmares of himself destroying his family, nor of the ghosts he fought. These were vivid, of creatures he couldn't put names to, yet, he felt as if he knew them; had seen them before. Almost like when he had turned ghost for the first time.

---

Vlad Masters stood on the building and watched Danny fly toward the outskirts of the city.

"That, is a lot of power." Skulker said as he set down beside him.

"Did you take care of the dragon?"

Skulker grinned. He loved his work. Especially since anything he caught and half way tamed, he got to keep. "A little gold did the trick."

"You did not use any of mine." It was a statement and not a question.

"No, no. I know better than to touch your hoard." Skulker rolled his eyes. Vlad was much like the dragons when it came to his stuff. The obsessive compulsiveness wasn't helping either. Ten million years and some things never changed.

"It's getting harder for him to hide."

"From who, the humans or the mystics?"

"Both. He has already been exposed to some of the ghosts."

"You haven't been helping with the ghosts."

Vlad shook his head. "Of course not."

"Speaking of which, who are you going to con into attacking him next?"

"I can't do that, we are playing on thin ice as it is. If he does anything as major as last time and it hits the press.."

"He'll have to come running to you?"

"No… Maddie would… No we need to play this right."

---

Safety. Now he could finally relax a little. No one would notice that crater really. "The ghost zone may have been a better place for this." He mumbled to himself.

If he was going to be out here, he might as well make use of his time. He zigzagged through the air and phased though a few trees. "Man, Mom is going to kill me for skipping, but I think I got enough of an excuse this time. I'll just say I walked home. What is wrong with me though? How do I fix this? I doubt any other kid has these kinds of problems. Better get home, at least I feel better now."

He looked back at the craters he had recently created. "Heh, I hope no one stumbles into one of those."


	2. Chapter 2

SS: I'm back

Raditiz: We see that.

SS: I updated early because I got reviews.

Raditiz: Her happy dance was highly disturbing.

---

Jazz woke up to a scream. Not just any scream, but the scream of her younger brother. She rushed into his room silently thankful that her parents were out on another late night ghost hunt.

The door flew open to reveal a bedraggled blue eyed teen, hand still halfway to the door which was now behind him. "Jazz?"

"What happened! I heard you scream."

She didn't like the way he looked down at his feet. Yesterday she had to smooth over him skipping school with her parents. He'd said he felt sick but didn't want to go to the nurse's office. He had told their parents that he walked home after school instead. Secretly he told her that he needed to clear his head and took a flight.

"It was just a nightmare."

"This is the fourth time this week." and it was. She hadn't been able to get a full night's sleep since Saturday. "Is it the same dream?"

"Yes." Danny said as he walked though her, he felt like a cold draft that made her bones shiver. She glared at her younger brother's back as it retreated down the stairs.

"I'm getting a glass of water. Want one?"

"Ew, no." Danny had a nasty habit of running the water through his hand before putting it in his glass. He said that it purified the city water. She thought he did it for no other reason than to bug her. Little brothers were designed to do that.

Jazz walked down the stairs and watched Danny get his water. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Danny shook his head.

"Danny, it might help."

"Jazz," he sat down at the table with his water, "they are just dreams."

"You've been nervous since the incident on Sunday, which you still won't tell me about."

"Did it ever occur to you that it was none of your business."

"Did it ever occur to you that I loved you very much and worry about you."

Danny sighed. He knew Jazz was just being her over protective self, and looking out for him, but this was stuff he needed to do alone. He didn't want his friends and family hurt while he figured out what was going on.

Glowing red eyes flashed in front of his vision. He shook his head. That didn't happen, but it could. It was but one possible future, and his could be one like it.

"Jazz I have school in the morning. I'm going back to bed. Sorry for waking you up."

The aforementioned young women stared in his direction as he jumped/flew up to the second floor. "Show off." Then she shifted as she muttered, "What am I going to do with you."

---

"Target sighted." The blond haired boy lowered his high tech binoculars. "The target is heading toward the educational facility on foot."

A voice came over his head set, "It's called a school. You know, that thing that humans send their kids to be brain washed. Where's the ghost king?"

"The enemy leader is on the roof of the building north of the educational facility designated 'school'."

"It's…. Never mind. Have you been spotted?"

"Hawk 1 has not been sighted."

"Good. Keep it that way. Keep an eye on our little prince, and be extra careful of the king. We don't want a repeat of last time."

---

"I've got the feeling I'm being watched." Danny complained for the tenth time that day. Quite a feat considering that they had only been in school for a total of thirty minuets, including the time it took to get their stuff. 

"We know. What do you want me to do about it? Stuff you into a closet?" Sam was getting annoyed and worried. Annoyed because he would not shut up. Worried because if it was bothering him this much it might be a ghost.

"You are just being paranoid." Tucker was just plain annoyed. So what if Danny thought there was someone watching them. As long as they weren't bothering him, he just wanted to move on with life. Of course, playing Doomed till 5:15 in the morning might not have been the brightest idea on his part, not that he was going to admit it. "If it is bothering you so much, check around the school during break. I want to sleep some during The Mede tone wonders of ligaments." Health wasn't his favorite subject anyway.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to bother you oh great and wonderful lords of the universe. It's just that my prey instinct is kicking in and I don't want to get slaughtered."

"What kind of bad thing? And don't you think that 'lords' is a high term for them. I know you are friends and all, but lords?" Valerie had gotten bored with the movie as well. She still felt bad about breaking up with Danny and had come to make it up to him little and chat. She had heard the entire conversation, they weren't exactly being quiet, but she also knew that Danny was bullied a lot. His paranoia was normal, at least in this high school. 

Unknowingly, she was on his wave length. The lack of ghost had been felt by all of Amity Park. The quiet was making everyone edgy, even though many didn't know why. Valerie, being a ghost hunter, felt it greatly. Not even Phantom had shown up much. That made her think there might be a ghost invasion coming. All the more reason she couldn't bring Danny into it.

"They are lords where they are being royal pains in the butt." Danny won himself a giggle at the cost of two glares. "As for the bad, well this is high school."

Valerie had to agree with him there.

---

Danny couldn't find anything or any ghost at lunch. He searched the entire school from the roof to the basement, and left no meat packaging box unchecked. Everywhere he went he could feel eyes on him. He wondered briefly if this was how fish in an aquarium felt? 

Appearing by Sam and Tucker, and sitting down at the bench, he said, "I couldn't find anything."

"Maybe that is because there are no ghosts. You said that you didn't sense anything." Sam rolled her eyes and ate another carrot.

"Yeah, not even the Box Ghost has been around. Think of it as a ghost vacation." Tucker tore another chunk of meat off of his chicken leg.

"Eat something, here have a nice calming carrot." Sam held out a carrot.

"No he needs energy. Have some protein filled chicken Danny."

The young teen saw where this was going, he grabbed both and stuffed them in his mouth at the same time. It didn't taste great, but it effectively stopped the upcoming fight. Even C students have their days.

---

Ever since that morning, Valerie had a sense of growing paranoia. She carefully checked to make sure nothing would get in the way of her upgraded ghost hunting suit. Everything was set.

As she walked out of the school, she got a feeling that there was someone who wanted to speak with her. It was odd, like she was being called to out loud but she couldn't hear anything. Looking around she had a sudden urge to walk to the edge of the parking lot. Her years of honing her skills and last few months of ghost hunting screamed trap, but curiosity over took her.

She followed the feeling to the opening in the fence and saw Vlad Masters leaning on one of the posts. 'He's telepathic?' she wondered. She had heard of it, but never encountered it before. There was no doubt in her mind now, though. It didn't cross her mind that he was manipulating her and had used this power on her before.

"My dear Valerie, just the hunter I wanted to see."

Valerie was flattered, but, she kept her composure, "Most of my stuff was broken, and Dad doesn't want me ghost hunting." It still irked her that Phantom exposed her, "He says that its too dangerous."

"But letting ghosts do what they want unchecked is even more dangerous." Valerie suddenly wondered if he could read minds as well as broad cast, "That is not the reason I wanted to see you though Valerie. I have a job for you."

"But I have school." Valerie was slightly startled. Mr. Masters had never requested anything of her before.

Vlad smiled, "I know. Actually it is because you are in school that I am making this request of you. I will even give you a little cash for this."

He had her full attention. She needed cash. "Why do you need a school kid, especially me?"

"You have motivation, among many other admirable traits. But for this you have connections. Connections an old man like my self does not."

Valerie couldn't help but smile at that. He didn't look a day over 25, despite his white hair.

"I do believe you know the Fentons."

"Yes, what do they have to do with anything?"

"I am a multibillionaire. The Fentons are my closest and most treasured friends. In fact I think of them as family. Unfortunately there are people who hate my guts because I am more fortunate that they are."

Valerie knew what that felt like. That stupid ghost who..

"Maddie and," Vlad coughed, "Jack are perfectly capable of taking care of themselves and their children. But while they are at school the young ones are open to attack."

"Danny!" Valerie felt sick. How could anyone want to hurt him, just because he was loosely connected to Mr. Masters. He was already over his head with the ghosts and her friendship.

Vlad nodded. "Yes, could you keep an eye on him. I fear for his safety."

"What about Jazz?"

"She is a female and always carries a gun. She is also older, smarter, and school active. People will notice more if she disappears. My enemy will not want that much attention drawn to themselves."

Valerie nodded. "So, you want me to protect Danny."

"Yes, at all costs. But be discreet about it. I don't want him to be alarmed. The closer you are to him, the easier that will be."

"I will." Valerie knew she had to. Danny, he, he was her only real friend she had after Phantom… No, she didn't want to think of that.

"Good. I will send you the money and equipment sometime tonight."

---

Paulina flopped on to her bed. There hadn't been any ghost attacks which meant that the ghost boy hadn't been around. She stared into the glowing green eyes of her obsession on her poster. She hadn't been able to get any more pictures of him lately.

She could never figure out why he seemed to show up around that loser Fenton kid. The best she could guess was that Phantom used him to conceal himself from the ghost hunters; that way he would always know were they were.  
Phantom was brilliant like that. The greatest advantage was that he could keep a good eye on her of course. He was romantic that way, and mysterious.

How could everyone else think he was evil? He had saved her a few time and way always kind to her. She personally though that he liked her. And why not? She was the prettiest girl in school after all.

With everyone always mad at him, it was no wonder he was so shy. Those Fentons were always hunting him down. Why couldn't they she that he was protecting everyone and how brave, handsome and strong he was.

"Paulina. Dinner."

Paulina sighed as she got up. Why couldn't they see what she saw, a hero. She gave the picture by her bed a quick kiss before flicking out the lamp and leaving her room.

---

If Danny knew he had one person outside of his click on his side, he would have been jumping for joy. At the moment though, he had a dilemma. Valerie had decided to join them for the day. Well join him. Sam was seething and if looks could kill, he was sure that Valerie would be six feet under right now. 

Tucker was hitting on every decent looking girl in the food court. At least he was in a better mood than this morning. He must have gotten his nap.

Thankfully, Valerie seemed to be taking his friends' antics quiet well. She was drinking her cherry smoothie and was only a little nervous. She looked around like she either didn't want to be seen with them, or like there were ghosts around. He assumed it was the latter.

The quiet didn't last long, it never did. Danny shivered and at first he thought it was his Black Berry Storm but the feeling didn't go away. 

Now most of the time when a really strong ghost like Skulker was around you can see your breath. Ectoplasma was a strange substance that most interpret as cold, but in actuality, it's the physical world's reaction to it. Ectoplasma was an energy that slows down atoms that go through it because it's two different matters sharing the same spot in two very close planes of existence, or at least that was the theory Maddie presented at the latest ghost convention.

Over time Danny come to identify humans in the same way, though they are a lot warmer and not as noticeable. The opposite was true in the ghost zone oddly enough.

"Of course the ghosts show up at the most inconvenient time." he thought to himself. He got out his chair as he said out loud, "I'll be right back."

Valerie had a job to do, and something made her uneasy. Her ghost tracker wasn't going off, be not all of Masters' enemies were ghosts. "Where are you going?"

A simple question, but he couldn't tell her that he was going to make sure a ghost didn't cause any trouble. Thankfully, lying was something that he had gotten in the habit of doing though. "To check out the video games. Come on Tucker."

There was no way he was going to make her stay with Sam alone besides, she had promised. Unfortunately for her, both boys had already disappeared into the crowd. 

"He left me here with her?" two girls thought simultaneously. Sam was mildly upset. But she saw the suddenness and the look in his eyes. It was a ghost, long months of working with him told her. Besides, she was the boys' video game connection. That was why she didn't want to tell them about all of her parents money, they now thought that just because she was rich they could beg off of her. Boys. Speaking of which, it was time to bite the bullet for Danny. Sometimes she was just too nice.

"Want to go look at some clothes?" Sam smiled. If she was going to do this, she was going to do this her way. "I could really Goth you up."

---

After Tucker was dragged into an empty aisle of video games, Danny transformed. This time he did fall over. Forget snowmelt, this was considerably worst than Kemper's ice breath. He swore that he could feel the air freeze.

"Whoa, man, are you ok? Tucker whispered. This was not normal, the shelves were shaking and it was cold in the there is a ghost around sense. Ok, there was a ghost around, but usually he couldn't see his breath and didn't shiver around Danny.

"I'm fine." Danny said as he felt the shock were off. He floated up. "I'll be back." he said jokingly and flew off.

"Wait! Aw man, Sam is going to freak, not to mention kill me when I tell her he went to fight in that condition." Tucker didn't know if he should tell her.

---

Valerie's ghost radar started beeping wildly. She was with Sam who was trying to get her to wear a blood-red dress. Sam was carrying on about how she had a necklace that would go with it, she almost sounded like a normal girl.

"Sam, I need to go."

Sam had heard the radar go off. She didn't want Valerie within a hundred feet of Danny while he was ghost fighting.

"No! I mean, we could find some other clothes for you. I'll buy them for you."

Valerie blinked and for a moment she had a sneaking suspicion but she shrugged it off. Sam was just trying to be nice. Valerie grabbed her bag.

"This is important. Sorry to ditch you like this." All she had was that odd suite, the glider, and a few guns that she still couldn't for the life of her, figure out where she had gotten. Vlad still hadn't gotten her the equipment he promised her, but she could improvise. Anything that made this much noise from her radar had to be dangerous. Perhaps strong enough to destroy Amity Park.

Sam had to stall Valerie. If she fought Danny, she might kill him. 

"Look, this is supposed to be a fun day. Let's at least try to have fun. I know we don't like each other, but let's try."

"No, I have to go. I'll be back if I can." Valerie would apologize later.

Sam stared after Valerie, knowing there was no stopping her now. "I hope Danny will be able to handle things." she thought as she went to find Tucker.

---

He flew drunkenly for a few moments before he straightened his head out. That feeling was bothering him again, but he had a job to do. He flew up onto the roof of the building.

Looking around he saw a young woman maybe twenty years old. She wore a long open trench coat and her raven hair flowed in the slight breeze behind her. Her black boots disappeared under her cargo pants and her red shirt was rather… almost lack there of, not that Danny minded.

'Huh? She doesn't look like a ghost. Her skin is too tan. Is she possessed?' Danny couldn't tell, the dark glasses she wore blocked his view of her eyes. 

"Hello young prince." Her voice was strong but quiet with a slight accent to it.

'Prince? What did she mean by that?' "Wh-who are you?" Danny's pretty girl a-phobia kicked in. 'Darn it, stay calm.'

"My name is Tomowashi. It seems you are having a little trouble there young prince."

Now Danny was only more confused. "Why are you calling me that?"

"It is what you are, is it not?"

He stared at her blankly.

"Oh, you really don't know anything do you?"

"That depends on your definition of anything." Danny was now beyond confused. He was a fish in a mud puddle.

She laughed. It sounded like bells over water. Danny dazed, her smile was stunning. 'Get back on track.' "No seriously, what are you talking about?"

"My little prince, your powers are getting stronger but you seem to be lacking control. I've been watching you. Perhaps I could help." She dazzled him with another warm smile as she walked a little closer.

Danny never got the chance to respond.

"Your going down ghost!"

'Oh great,' Danny thought as Valerie shot at him, 'she remembers me.' he dodged the incoming ectoblast. 'Sam must not have been able to stall her.'

Valerie flew up on her hover board and landed on the roof with grace, the glider retracting with a soft swish. She glared at Phantom, and then turned to the unfamiliar women. She looked down at her radar, 'Wait, she isn't a ghost. Usually there is another ghost, unless she is possessed. Maybe Phantom's presents is overloading the circuitry, but lets not take chances.'

Danny was nervous, Valerie was still unhappy with Phantom. He cringed as he remembered how he had accidentally hurt her. Unfortunately, being nervous caused his energy to act up. When he looked down his hands were glowing. "Valerie, please, listen to me…"

"No way ghost. I'm going to cream you!"

"I'm sorry," Tomowashi looked confused, "but I was speaking with the prince. You are interrupting."

Valerie turned to her, "He is dangerous, you should run. Wait, prince?"

Tomowashi no longer seemed interested in the ghost hunter. "Well my lord, I do believe that you need some time to sleep on it. I will leave you to your play date for now." she gave a short bow. "I will come back for you."

The mysterious women jumped off the building, leaving both hunter and the hunted. The former turned to Phantom, "Why did she call you prince and what were you two talking about?" She demanded.

"I don't know to both questions. Bye." Danny took advantage of her lowered guard to escape.

Valerie stomped her foot. "Arg!"

---

"Sam, he looked terrible. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't stop him from leaving.

"How bad was it?"

"The shelves were shaking and I was shivering. So was he. My glasses fogged up, and he fell. Even when he got up he didn't fly straight."

Sam was now officially worried. Tucker was a hard guy to upset, and now he was shaking so bad it was a wonder he was still standing. Danny was fighting a ghost and Valerie was out there too.

"Calm down Tucker, deep breaths. That's it deep breaths." Sam said as much to Tucker as to her self.

"Yo, guys, what's up?" Danny walked up to them. "having a little heart to heart in the middle of the mall?"

They jumped. Then Sam hugged him, "Danny, you're alright!"

"Yeah, but I won't be if I don't get air." Danny gasped out.

"Sorry." Sam blushed as she let go.

"How was the ghost?" Once Tucker had seen Danny, he had calmed down.

"I don't know, it was strange. Her name was Tomowashi." Danny's face went a little red.

"Her?" was his doubled reply. Then Tucker said what Sam thought but in different wording, "Was she hot?"

Danny smiled and opened his mouth but..

"Hey guys. Sorry to run out on you but there was something I needed to do." Valerie called as she strode up to them.

Sam growled, "Yeah, like kill Danny."

"What was that?" Valerie asked.

"Oh I just want cotton candy right now, you know cravings." Sam's eye twitched as she said that.

The boys laughed and started teasing Sam. Soon it was war as Valerie gave Tucker a remark on his women skills. And another day passed without any ghostly fights. 


	3. Chapter 3

SS: Hi. New chapture. 

---

There was a mason outside of Amity Park that no one knew much about. In fact if one where to ask around, they would find that most people would say that it didn't exist. That old man who runs the antique shop on the corner might whisper that it was haunted after he had fully checked to make sure the Fentons were no where near by.

It was a day like today that started the rumors. A ghostly racket could be heard all the way to the main road. The little old lady who was walking by walking by it walked a little faster.

What they didn't know was that the mason really was hunted by ghosts, well sort of anyway. The owner of this magnificent place was angry; it was he that was making the racket.

"I told you to make sure those rotten monsters stayed away! Now I have two suspicious pawns." Vlad paced in front of the fire place. From the outside, the mason was covered in vines and looked as if no one had been there in years. The inside on the other hand was far finer than even the president had.

A red a haired elf reclined in a lazy boy chair across the room. "It wasn't my fault. I wasn't on duty. Ember was."

"Well then it was Damn good thing that I had a secondary defense. If we lose Daniel, it is game over for us."

"I am aware." The red head leaned back, "I am a lot older than you, and I have learned a thing or two about how the world works." He closed his eyes.

"You sure do not act like it." Vlad growled out, his eyes blazing red.

"Of coarse not. Life gets to be boring if you do. You'll find out if you live longer than last time."

"I am not alive now!"

"Are you sure about that?"

That stopped Vlad in his tracks. Was he alive or dead? A ghost trying to fit in with humans, like so many of his clients, or a human with all of the powers of a ghost. Just thinking about it gave him a headache. Unable to think of a good comeback or even a decent answer, huffed, "Did you at least finish the equipment I asked you to?"

A smile crossed this relaxed elf's lips. He knew he had won. He would pay for the jib later but it was well worth it. Humans never changed, however, they could most certainly be entertaining. Vlad was one of those few humans he liked. "Yes I did."

"Good. I have a delivery to make. If Daniel gets any more unwanted visits it will be your head. Understand?"

"Yes milord." the elf rolled his eyes under their lids as Vlad left.

---

_The castle was huge. Everything looked as if it jumped out of a fairy tale. Dragons flew over head, wagons were pulled by horses, and ladies in silken robes waved at him as he passed. Danny smiled and waved back. He felt confident that he passed they giggled and talked about him. For some reason, he was used to their affections, they were acting like Paulina does around Phantom. But these women were far more beautiful and elegant than the love stuck teen._

_He wanted to run off and explore the green land in which he walked, but his legs wouldn't respond to his brain. That was ok though, they were taking him to the castle. A red dragon dropped out of the sky landing like a feather on the ground. He was bearing a rider clad in orange midevil clothes that, when he looked twice, looked like his father._

_"Would you like a ride milord?" The man said in his dad's voice with respect._

_Instead of asking what his dad meant, he swung up behind him. They launched into the air and soon they were higher than Danny had ever gotten on his own power. The castle suddenly started getting a lot closer. The land beneath them was being tilled at the hands of strong men and oxen._

_A blast of fire rushed in front of his eyes and his father was no longer sitting in front of him. Instead of the red dragon he was now sitting on a silver one. The earth below was dry and the fields were on fire. The skies were full of blazing balls of flame._

_A scraggly dragon wit holes in its wings flew up to grapple with the dragon below him. A hideous creature straddled upon its, no her back. She was pregnant and underfed. Time slowed down as the creature pulled an arrow out of her side and attempted to stab him with it._

A shrill beeping cut through the air and Danny's hand shot out and his alarm clock was no more. He sat up and blinked at the sun. He groaned, "What time is it? I think it's Saturday."

He was about to lie down and go back to sleep when someone pounded on his door, vibrating into his skull. "Danny, are you awake? I want to show you the new ghost grabber." His dad yelled though the door.

There was no hope of more sleep now. Blearily, he tried to remember why his alarm clock was set as he rolled out of bed. Maybe he forgot to turn it off. "I'm awake now, how about after breakfast."

"Sure thing. Hurry up, V-man is coming over late today."

Ah, now he remembered. When Danny got home last night his parents kindly told him his arch nemesis was coming over today. Apparently he had business in the area and decided to drop by.

'Ha more like he has some evil plan to kill my dad, marry my mom, and somehow make me his son, not necessarily in that order.' he thought as he slid out of bed. "Cheese head should just get a cat." Danny grumbled to himself as he pulled on a clean shirt. "It would be cheaper and have better maintenance."

Danny didn't bother wasting the extra effort to open his door and he walked through it and bumped into Jazz.

"Danny!" His sister glared at him.

"Morning Jazz. I'm planning on having my arch nemesis over for tea and cookies. What are your plans for today?"

Jazz's look softened into concern. "I can take you out to the mall with me."

"No thanks, I need to protect the castle, I mean house. Besides he is probably planning some kind of mischief, and I will be more likely to be graced with his evil plot rant if I'm here."

"Oh, ok, so… When you die, can I have you computer?" Jazz smiled, winking at him.

"No!"

---

The door bell rang. "Danny," Maddie called from the kitchen, "can you get that? I'm working on dinner."

"Sure mom." Danny opened the door a crack. Outside he saw Vlad Masters, just the person he wanted to see.

"Good afternoon Daniel."

"Oh, it's just you." Danny slammed the door in his face.

Vlad twitched. "I suppose I set my self up for that. I should have excepted him to be hostile towards me." With a sigh he rang the doorbell again.

On the other side of the door Maddie called to Danny, "Who was it sweetie?"

"Oh, just a telemarketer." Danny grinned and walked upstairs humming to himself.

Maddie frowned. Jack had scared away all of the telemarketers who had attempted to talk to them. After four hours of him blathering on about ghosts, they stopped bugging them. That was one of the ups of Jack's excitable personality. The door bell rung again.

Wiping her hands off with a towel she walked into the living room. With a flick though the air, said towel fluttered neatly onto the back of the couch as she opened the door.

"Ah, hello my dear Maddie."

Maddie blushed with shame for Danny's behavior. "I apologize for Danny. He doesn't seem to like you much."

"He is a teenager, Maddie. I remember when we were his age. You my dear, are still as beautiful as back then."

Maddie frowned. That odd suspicion crept up her back, the same one that she got around Vlad every time she had seen him in the past fifteen years. She shook her head, "Come in Dinner will be ready in a few hours. We are having rib eye steak."

Vlad smiled, he loved Maddie's cooking, when she wasn't experimenting. He walked in and made himself comfortable on the Fenton's couch. Yes, this would make things much harder for the Twilight Order. They won't be able to cause him trouble without risk of exposure.

He was playing a close game with all of the Fenton's ghost equipment around. 'Ah, well, sometimes in life, risks are required.'

Suddenly he found himself on the floor halfway across the room. "Good to see you V-man.' The infamous Jack Fenton cried from on top of him.

"Good, _gasp_ to _grown_ see you _cough_ too." He felt one of his vertebra shift. Sometimes life required sacrifices too.

---

Dinner was one long staring contest. Vlad attempted to ignite pleasant conversation with Danny by asking about friends, games and grades. Everything he tried was rebuked by a grunt and green eyed glares when Jack and Maddie weren't looking.

After dinner Danny demanding to know why he was there. Vlad had to smile at the boy's ignorance. 'He really expects an explanation.' Maddie was in the kitchen and Jack was hunting something down somewhere upstairs. Jazz was on the coach, pretending to read. He could trust her to keep he moth shut.

"Actually, I'm here to protect you."

"I don't need protection. I,.. wait," Danny turned to look at him in the eyes. "you're keeping me from finding something out. Something big."

"You," Vlad laughed a little, "are not ready to know. You aren't even old enough to drive and are not in college yet. Right now you are just a loose cannon."

"Teasing me is not going to get me to join you." Danny's eyes narrowed.

"I would hope that you are not that stupid. If you were then I would think that hard work was for nothing."

"And what work would that be."

"Daniel, do you really think I'm going to tell you?" Vlad stared down at the boy, giving of the appearance of superiority.

"I thought that bad guys liked to rant out their evil plots."

"See, it is exactly that kind of mind set that prevents me from telling you. However, you should know that…"

"I found it!" Jack's bellow echoed tough out the entire house. He burst into the room. "Look! Our old charter sheets." Jack held up a large stack of papers and books.

As much as Vlad loved the old games, he didn't like the interruption. Unfortunately he needed to keep his cover.

"Why Jack, I did not know you still had those. Do you happen to have _Hunters in the Darkness_ books in that pile?"

"Yes, and I have something better, the new book set. I've been dying to try out the new system but it would be no fun without my best player."

'If I'm going to be stuck in this place I might as well have fun. Take that elf boy.' he made every effort to hide his excitement as he asked, "Furies or blood suckers?"

Jack didn't bother. "I'm going fury. I'll go tell Maddie." Jack bounced into the kitchen.

Vlad stated to follow, but remembered what he was going to say. He looked over his shoulder to the dumbfounded Danny, "The Twilight Order is a group you should stay away from. They are dangerous." That out of the way he walked into the kitchen.

---

"He's down stairs, in my living room!" Danny complained into the computer.

Both Sam and Tucker were on line. "So, what is he doing?" Tucker asked oh so sympathetically.

"I think it's some kind of dice game. Dad called it killers in the dark or something. They keep laughing and it's are scaring me."

"It's _Hunters in the Darkness_…" Sam said.

"What?"

"It's an RPG."

"Sam I told you they were playing with dice, not video games."

Sam rolled her eyes, "Role playing Games came long before video games._ Hunters in the Darkness_ is a game with mostly werewolves and Vampires. I'm a Goth, I know these things."

Both Tucker and Danny laughed. "Only nerds play those games." Danny choked out.

"I play them too." Both boys stared at their screens. Then Tucker disappeared from view as Danny phased though his Keyboard.

"Are you done yet?" Her reply was only more laughter.

After his fit died down Danny Sat up, "Thanks Sam I needed that. I can't believe you play the same game that my arch nemesis plays."

"I didn't know he played it either. I wonder if he plays as a blood sucker or a furry."

"I didn't stick around long enough to find out."

Tucker rejoined them. "So what did he snicker want?"

"It's what he doesn't want. He doesn't want me to know something, and he doesn't want me near this Twilight Order. Tucker, what do you got on them?"

"I'll have to research it. I'll need a few days."

"I'll check out some books. Are they ghosts?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. My dad interrupted us before I could get anything more than that."

"Do you think that is has anything to do with that ghost from the other day?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. I'll keep you guys posted. See you in the morning."

"Good luck sleeping" Tucker commented.

"Sleep? What's that?"

"Good Night Danny."

---

_Bodies burned outside of his window as he sat and watched. He couldn't save them. People, elven, Dwarven, human, littered the battle torn earth. The massive forms of dragons lay amongst the carnage. Those hideous goblin like monsters still twitched, their acid blood burning the ground they laid on. They would be no harvest next year._

_His ribs hurt and he was tire in body and at heart. Bandages covered his bear chest, his legs and his arms, many bleeding though, especially one on his thigh._

_The door opened and a young servant women stood in the door way. "My lord, you need to eat."_

_"I'm not hungry," Danny heard himself say. "Besides, the soldiers need it more than I do."_

_"The injured have already been taken care of. Your father wants you to eat."_

_"I feel that soon it will not matter. You are dismissed."_

_"Yes milord."_

_Danny stood and walked over to the desk against the wall. Books, documents, and quills were scattered across it and the red dye carpet beneath it. He picked up a map that showed how much land they had lost._

_"I hear you are not eating." a said voice he recognized._

_"We have already lost."_

_"Your father does not think so."_

_Danny looked over his shoulder at his visitor. 'Clockwork?' His robes were long and deep purple and he was alive. The only things that made him recognizable were the scar on his face and his time staff._

_"What do you think?"_

_The Clockwork, look a like, frowned, "The future is foggy. I cannot see past its mist. Nothing is yet set in stone."_

_"In other words, you don't know." Danny laughed, but it was bitter sweet. "What were those things, do you at least know that?"_

_"They were the bodies of the dead. Wizards' failed attempts to breath the life back into their bodies."_

_"Zombies then."_

_"Yes, I suppose you could call them that."_

_"I didn't know that zombies could have souls."_

_"They don't."_

_Danny turned around to face the time keeper. "Then what did I feel?"_

"Good morning Danny! Time to get up and embrace the day." Jazz cheerfully cut in over whatever was said next as she pulled Danny's sheets off on him.

"Ghosts are nocturnal Jazz." Danny groaned as he tried to grab his covers back. He was not successful due to his overly perky sister whom happened to be a morning person.

"Then so is Vlad."

It took a few moments for what Jazz was suggesting to sink in though the morning haze. "He's still here?"

"Yep. Seems that they were up all night. They were still playing when I got up."

"What time is it?"

"Ten."

"Where is the cheese head now?"

"In the guest bedroom."

"Cover me, I'm going in." Danny got up. "Hey! What are you doing?"

Jazz looked down at the model rocket in her hand, "Throwing you stuff away. In a few minutes, you won't need it."

"Fine, I'll wait till after I get dressed."

---

Danny wasn't being evil, he was getting revenge. Vlad had played him everywhere else, but invading his home was the last straw. It wasn't a master plan, but it was what he did best.

Being part ghost gave him many advantages like flight, invisibility, and intangibility. There were even a few that he didn't often think about like being able to drop water temperature to almost freezing. The gallon bucket full of water in his hand would do the trick.

Instead of opening the door, Danny phased though. It was like swimming in a cold lake. 'I guess the stress hasn't worn off yet. This will be worth the cold though.'

He float walked over the bed in which the prone billionaire laid. First he checked to make sure that Vlad was really asleep. Then he got ready to run.

In the next moment, two things happened. First Vlad woke up cold and sputtering. Second, Danny dropped the bucket on Vlad's head and ran like hell's hounds were on his heels.

Silence echoed throughout the house before… "Daniel, get back here!" Vlad nearly transformed right then and there. As it was, his eyes reflected with dragon's fire and his hands burned with ectoplasma. The shear volume of energy he gave off made every ghost detector in the building go off.

"Ghost alert. You would have to be a complete and total idiot not to notice the ghost in the building."

The front door slammed shut. His query had already escaped. Now he had to deal with the consequences of losing his temper.

"Where's the ghost?" Jack burst into the room geared up to fight, Fenton bazooka in hand.

Vlad managed to calm himself in time. "I did not see a ghost, but I did the Daniel's back as he ran out."

---

"Still with us I see." Sam commented as Danny ran up. ""What are you running from, a demon?"

"No." Danny panted out. "Close though, Vlad."

Tucker laughed. "So that's what took you so long. What did you do to him?"

"I just woke him up. He didn't have to go ballistic on me."

Sam didn't believe one bit of the innocent act. "How did you wake him up?"

Danny grinned, "Oh, with a little ice water."

"Classic!" Tucker high-fived Danny.

Sam crossed her arms. "Oh real mature. Tucker, you shouldn't encourage him. Danny you know he is going to kill you when he gets his hands on you."

"Yeah, but it was worth it." Danny grinned.

Sam rolled her eyes. There were days when she wanted to let them fend for themselves. Then she would remember the trouble they would get into without her saving their butts. She still thought Danny would be flying around with his dad's face on his chest no matter how much he tried to deny it.

"Seriously though," Danny regathered himself. "What do we got?"

If they were anyone else, it might have been weird. On moment they were joking like normal teenagers would, they next, they were the towns only defense against ghosts. To the adults walking down the street, they still looked normal and acted normal, but if only they knew that children were their silent warriors. Speaking about battle tactics along side sports and the next dance. A video game was all it sounded like to the passerby. It kept them safe, and yet at the same time, it kept them sane.

Tucker smiled. "A really cool new anime to watch called Dot. Hack. Seems that it uses the word twilight in it, a lot."

"I'm with Tucker on this one. I've looked up everything I thought might help and all I got was new reading material. We will keep trying though. Maybe that girl you just met has something to do with it."

Danny nodded, "Oh, I have something else, what do you know about zombies, wizards, and raising the dead?'

"Why?" Sam asked.

"I'm just curious. You know, for incase."

"Danny, is there something you want to tell us?" Concern colored her voice.

He knew there was but, "Nothing."

"Well I'll get you a few books." Sam sighted. She wanted him to just tell her. Was it something Vlad said?

"Thanks Sam." He's going to read? It must be bad.

Tucker suddenly yelled out, "Who's up for bowling at Sam's house!"

"I'm all for that." Danny said.

"Alright, alright you can come over." 'Then again,' Sam thought, 'it can't be that bad.'

"Yes!" Tucker shouted.

---

"The target is outside of the enemy leader's sight."

"Is there anyone with our young prince?"

"Companions 1 and 2 are with the target."

"Where is the guard?"

The blond looked over his shoulder. Behind him was a young musician tied up, her guitar in pieces beside her. "The guard is out of commission."

"Good. Page me if the Ghost king shows up. I'm going to give the prince another visit."

---

They were halfway through their second game and Danny was up. Sam had four spares and a strike while Tucker had a 35. Danny had a 26 and was last one the screen. He took his first step and let the bowling ball drop, his second and third steps as it swung forward in his best swing all night. Then a chill ran down his back.

"Gutter Ball!" laughed Tucker. Now you're never going to catch up."

Ignoring Tucker, Danny straitened up and closed his eyes. There were a few servants in Sam's mansion, her grandma was in her room, and the ghost was on the third floor, near the room Tucker and he had bunked a few weekends ago.

"Danny, your ball came back." said Tucker, trying to get his attention.

"There is a ghost." Danny growled out, irritated that at the other boy for breaking his concentration.

"In my house? Oh no, my parents are going to freak when they find out. And we just got that restraining order off of you."

"You mean if they find out." said Danny.

Tucker joined in, "Yeah if is good."

"You do remember that if can be 18 years later, right?" Sam said as she frowned at their immaturity.

"Yeah, but what will it matter then?" the dark skinned boy asked cheerfully.

"Danny, get the ghost out of my house."

"Yes madam." Danny saluted and transformed. Suddenly he wished he didn't. Everything went that icy prickle numb. He couldn't feel his fingers yet at the same time, all of the energy around him was painful. For a brief moment he thought he was going to die. Voices from far away started to invade his conciseness.

_"I told you it was a stupid idea."_

_"He never listens. He is the prince after all. He knows everything."_

_"Um, should we go get someone, he isn't moving."_

Danny felt a hand on his shoulder.

"_Go get his father; he will know what to do. Hurry."_

And then he knew no more.

When Danny went down, Tucker panicked. "It's happening again Sam."

"You mean what happened at the mall?"

"Yes, it's getting colder too. The pins are shaking. Um, should we go get someone, he isn't moving."

Sam placed a hand on Danny's shoulder, "No, no that will only make things worst. Go get something hot, hurry."

As Danny slumped into her hand, she could feel her fingers going numb.


	4. Chapter 4

SS: Ok, I know I shouldn't complain, but I only got one review last chapter. One. 

Raditz: Quit your whining baby.

SS: I don't really feel like updating but I will anyway. It's not like any one it reading it but myself.

Raditz: She's going for sympathy points, don't listen to her.

SS: You don't like me either. Cries

Raditz: What don't cry! Panics

---

Vlad had just recently gotten back to his nap. It took him a while to calm jack down enough to believe him. He was on the edge off sleep, that place between dreams and wakefulness. It was a place he often went to because true sleep eluded him.

_He was seated in a large chair speaking with the red haired elf. They were speaking of a problem of organization, one that Vlad could not fully remember when he woke, but it did not matter. That was mostly due to the massive power surge cut though the air, causing the elf and Vlad to jump to their feet. At fist he thought they were under attack when he recognized the energy._

Vlad woke up. 'That was Daniel's energy. Something's wrong.' he clicked on his communicator to contact Ember. Why was she not answering?

---

Ember stirred as the communicator beeped. The blond crushed it and said into his radio, "The enemy leader has attempted to establish contact with the guard. It might be wise to make haste."

---

"I will." Tomowashi had no doubt that the ghost king had felt that. She wouldn't be surprised if the mice in Japan felt the energy rolling off the prince. They only had one shot. Screw the original plan, there wasn't time for it.

She was downstairs in moments. The prince was on the ground and a girl was franticly trying to talk to him.

"Danny, come on, talk to me. Transform back. The ghost isn't that important. Danny."

'The girl is going to be a problem.' "I'm sorry, am I interrupting?" she said in her soft accent.

Violet eyes whipped around, causing raven hair to fly around her head like so many fine cut knives, "You're that ghost!"

Tomowashi was surprised, most would have gone over the deep end in fear from the shear amount of energy in the room. Instead he girl looked calm, even though she was obviously worried. "Ghost, hardly. I'm not a ghost at all. Did the prince tell you about me?"

"You're Tomowashi. Right?" the girl's glare was startlingly scary.

'The prince has an interesting taste in friends.' "Yes I am." she walked over to the two; the click of her heels against the wood floor echoed though the bowling ally. "It seems to be worse that I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"The prince's powers are developing at a faster rate than his body can handle. If his energy isn't controlled, it will destroy him from the inside out. That's not mentioning everything within a two mile radius."

A dark skinned boy walked into the room with a hot pad and some hot soup. "Only two miles? Man Piccolo could blow up the moon, and that was without hurting himself."

"Tucker this is not DBZ!" the girl half glared at him for a moment, torn between anger and worry. Worry won however, "What do we do to help him?"

"I know people who can help him." Tomowashi stated. "I will take him to them."

"Do you think we are stupid? About the time he starts having problems, you show up saying you can help? No way, you'll have to go though me first."

Tomowashi had to get out of there soon. The ghost king was going to show up any moment now. "He'll die if we don't hurry."

The girl's eyes widened, "And you didn't tell us earlier why?"

"Because I did not think that it would happen this fast." Tomowhasi added to the act by shaking her head.

The girl finally relented and getting up she said, "Ok, but you are taking me with you."

The boy called Tucker looked like he was going to say something but Tomowashi spoke over any protest he would have made. "Understood."

With a nod she bent down to pick Danny up. She never touched him. Instead she found herself against the wall and staring into the burning eyes of the ghost king.

"Do not touch my boy. If you do, you will spend the rest of eternity wishing that you were never brought into existence." With that, he dropped her and she received an ectoblast to the nose that nearly knocked off her sunglasses.

Not wanting to see if he'd go though with his threat she raced to the window. He was known for making his enemies suffer, and in truth Tomowashi was scared of him. Glass shattered as she dove through the window.

Vlad on the other hand had other problems to deal with. Both Sam and Tucker gaped at him, for a moment before standing between him and Danny. The answer seemed simple enough, go through them, but then Sam pulled out the Fenton ghost peeler.

She was also the first of the three to speak. "Stay back. Come any closer and we'll see what this thing can do to half ghosts."

Vlad was impressed, both of the children were scared so badly that they were shaking, but they had spunk. This may be causing him problems now but they would they would be useful later.

"Samantha right?" said girl cringed but never took her eyes off him. "Daniel's condition may not be critical yet, but he won't wake-up unless someone fixes his energy pattern."

"Wait, she said he would go ka-boom." Tucker blurted out.

Sam backed him up, "Yeah you're contradicting each other. What is really going on?"

Vlad raised an eyebrow 'Ka-boom? The things kids come up with these day.' "I highly doubt that he will blow up. This is the echo of a spell from before any of you were born. However if it is not fixed, he will have problems for a long time."

The teens looked back at their friend's prone form. Neither knew what to do. Sam decided that there was enough of a safety on Plasmius to get this to work. "Alright but one wrong move and your identity is down the gutter.

"Playing on your enemy's weakness. My lessons have been sinking in. Very well. I'll have him back home by evening. We can't have his parents suspicious so I'll say he was with you." Vlad phased through the two, picked up Danny, and vanished.

The two had stared at the now vacant spot for a while before Tucker spoke up. "I guess we aren't going to finish our game."

Sam dumped the now cold soup onto his head.

---

_"I brought the elixir milord."_

_"Good let's see if he'll take it." Danny felt a cup press against his lips and numbing liquid flowed into his mouth._

_"He is starting to wake up."_

_"Daniel, I told you not to mess with the restricted books. Now you know why."_

A hand was gently stroking his forehead when he woke. It took him a moment after he opened his eyes to realize that the hand belonged to Jazz. She smiled at him when she saw he was awake. "I heard your day was interesting yesterday."

"How did I get home?" Danny tried to sit up but was pushed back down by jazz.

"Vlad brought you home around six. He told mom and dad that you got sick and fell asleep in the car.'

Danny winced; he didn't fancy the idea of being within a hundred feet of Plasmius, let alone being unconscious for who knows how long around him. "Did you talk to Sam and Tucker?"

"They called earlier this morning wanting to know if you were here. Once I told them that you were Tucker turned off his PDA on me."

"So… What happened with the ghost at Sam's?" he asked mostly himself.

"What ghost?"

"Never mind they must have got it." Danny spaced for a moment and then it dawned on him in big glowing numbers that said 12:33PM, "Lancers going to kill me for being late!"

Jazz had to sit on him to keep him in bed. "You, are not going to school. Mom already called you in sick. Speaking of which if you are not sick, then why were you sleeping?"

"I don't know." Danny didn't think he was sick. He didn't really know what was wrong. "I may be going out on a limb here but I'm going to say Plasmius has something to do with it."

Jazz shook her head, "Or you could just be sick."

He shook his head, "What are you doing home anyway?"

"Lunch brake. Besides, I needed to bring your homework." She patted the pile of books on his night stand. "You have a test in math on Friday."

He groaned, "Oh thanks Jazz, I feel so loved."

---

"Tomowashi, you have failed." A dark figure said.

"Give me some more time. I can bring him in."

"No, this time we do this my way." A young girl holding a giant teddy bear said.

"But…"

"You've had your chance." The girl shaped, "Now we do things my way." she smiled cruelly.

---

It was difficult for Danny to concentrate on his homework. His brain just wouldn't function with Vlad just around the corner, playing that irritating dice game with his parents. Jazz was across the table looking through notes.

Danny slammed his pencil down after another round of laughter drifted from the other room. "I give up!" How can he enjoy himself? He hates dad."

Jazz shrugged, "Maybe it's just him being around mom."

"I wish that Vlad was back in Wisconsin. Then I…" Danny suddenly looked around, "Darn it, no Desiree."

"You must be desperate.'

"Yes, yes I am. I'm going out. Maybe I'll find something to vent misplaced aggression, like the box ghost.' Danny got up and left through the back door, avoiding the adults and mostly Vlad.

---

The park was quiet. The street lamps were just flickering on, their beams reflecting the green in his eyes. The looming shapes of the playground equipment might seem spooky to normal kids, but after seeing as many ghosts as he had, one got used to the dark.

The swings rocked gently in the wind as if ghosts were in them, and the trees swayed gently.

Danny sunk into the dewing grass and let his mind wander where it willed. 'Vlad isn't a threat at the moment, if he were planning anything harmful, there were several hours in which he cold have done it. Unless he implanted something in me. I think he would have said something about it though.'

Sam and Tuck had dropped by earlier to check on him and tell him of the events that occurred while he was unconscious. 'That woman had shown up again. Next time I want answers. She said I could have blown up. I wonder if she was telling the truth…

Danny stared up into the sky, watching clouds float by in the wind. 'And what is up with these dreams I've been having. I'm half tempted to tell Jazz everything and let her figure them out. Maybe Clock Work knows something about them; after all, he was in one.'

The hairs on the back of Danny's neck prickled and he thought he felt a ghost. 'No not a ghost, it's the same feeling as Tomowashi, but deader somehow.'

When he heard footsteps he jumped to his feet. His eyes glowed as he saw a young girl holding a teddy bear walking up. She wore a white dress and her eyes flickered blue in the lamp light. Shadow darkened her hair and skin but he thought they looked light in color.

"Who are you." Danny's foul mood colored his voice.

"We can do this the easy way or the hard way, but you are coming with me." The bear's eyes glowed red.

The dark tone in her voice threw him off. Something didn't feel right. He had to fight his instincts in order to keep himself in place. He took a deep breath before reply, "Where would you be taking me?"

The girl frowned, "Back to the base. Now come."

Something was very wrong here. The bear's eyes seemed alive and the air trembled with her energy. Suddenly he preferred Vlad's attempts to make Danny join him. "I think it's time for me to go home now." he said as he took a step back.

There as a subtle movement behind him and slowly he turned around. He saw several bodies, half rotten with bones gleaming, stumbling toward him on unsteady feet. "That's not good."

He ducked as the closest swung its arm at him. From his lowered stance, he blasted the thing in the rib cage. Bone and bits of flesh splattered everywhere, some falling in his hair. The legs were still standing, and he got kicked in the face.

Rolling backward he landed at the girl's feet. She was smiling at his pain. "No matter how many times you break my toys, they will still come after you. Do you give up yet?"

"I don't want to go with you." Danny fought down panic. "You're crazy"

A skeletal hand grabbed his ankle; the right one of the rotting body he just blew up. "You don't have a chance."

Out of the corner of his eye he saw the bodies advancing. He didn't want to transform. Last time he passed out, but the ectoblast didn't bother him, so maybe he should take his chances. He saw a rusted ax materialized in one of the skeleton's hands, and it swung down with great force toward him.

The ax split the ground where he was, "Intangibility, check." he said as he flew up behind them. The girl looked like she was going to throw a temper tantrum. The skeletons turned around and started moaning and stumbling toward him.

Danny turned tail and ran. He did not want those things touching him. A squeeze around his ankle told him that he couldn't phase though them. Running was higher on his list than worrying about the hand attached to his ankle. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw that the skeletons were gaining on him.

'They are a lot faster than they look.' His muscles were cramping, breath came in needle sharp gasps to his lungs. There was no way he could out run his pursuers. With no other choice he stopped to face them.

"Going ghost!" Cold rings washed over him like spring water. The power from his ghost form flowed through him, dispelling the fire in his muscles. There was no time to celebrate his success.

A blast left his hand and hit the closest skeleton in the head. Its skull flung back and rolled next to the swing set, leaving a little trail brains and blood. The body kept on advancing in that stumbling pace, not even slowing down. The pair of legs from earlier had started to reassemble, bone and pieces of flesh flying over to rebuild its upper torso.

The hand around his ankle and the flesh in his hair tugged toward it original body. A blast took care of the hand, leaving blood stains on his boot.

"One, two, three, four, five. That is hardly fair little girl." he called over to her.

"I'm not little!" She floated over, still holding her giant bear, and landed behind the line of skeletons. The skull flew over and reattached itself to its body. "And my name is Checka."

'Mindlessly blasting these things is not going to work. Best to make a quick exit.' After taking a deep breath, he unleashed his most powerful attack. Much like a sonic wave passing through, the energy enhanced sound shattered the bones; and rotting flesh splattered across the park. Dried blood and green goo clung to the trees, swings and grass. Checka and her bear were thrown back as well. She landed in a puddle of the parks latest decorations.

Danny, weakened but still standing, turned around and flew home as fast as he could. But not without a few last words. "Good luck pulling your selves back together. I'd stick around, but I got to get home. Bye."

Checka sat up and pulled her bear onto her lap. "He is stronger than I thought Silicon. Master will be pleased. Next time, we won't hold back. He broke my toys, so now I will have to break him." She smiled. "Master said that he wanted the boy alive, but he didn't say how many pieces he had to be in."


	5. Chapter 5

SS: Oh goodness. I am so sorry, I was going to update, but then I found the sims2 and played it. I'll have you know that Vlad and Maddie are happily married and have a girl named Jazz and are planning on another one. Jack is fat and alone, Ember and her mom are aspiring for greatness, and Young Blood is just learning to walk with his father Gerald, all in the small town of Amity park (a nice place to live.) Maddie wants to see Skulker's ghost cause he annoys her…

All the time I could spend editing was destroyed by siblings.

Raditz: She's just Lazy.

SS: Thank you for the reviews, especially Mystitat, cause she helped me through my writers block. I'll see about getting you that scene, but it might take a while cause of plot issues. 

Raditz: can I go now?

SS: No! Unless you want me to replace you with Skulker.

Raditz: … Freedom! Runs off

SS: What! Oh butter biscuits…

----

Maddie was cleaning up. Jack was downstairs, and Vlad had gone home the night before around ten.

The children were at school. She wanted to keep Danny home, but he checked out fine and insisted on going.

A frown crossed her lips as she walked into the bathroom. A light scent of rotting flesh and blood was in the air. She remembered Danny running into the house last night. He practically flew up the stairs and she didn't see him again until this morning. She never got the chance to question him.

She found the source of the stench on Danny's clothes that were left in haste on the bathroom floor. Blood stains were splattered on the pants and a piece of rotten flesh clung to his shirt.

Worry choked her. Was Danny getting into trouble? Did her baby run into a ghost and not tell her? Was he possessed?

Maddie shook her head to clear it. Further investigation revealed bits of flesh in a towel and blood stains in the tub. If there was a ghost, possessing Danny, it wouldn't have left this kind of evidence. That didn't rule out the supernatural however.

Suddenly she wondered what kind of business Vlad had in Amity Park. He knew more of the spirit realm than any other man alive. Or at least the theories concerning it. Last night he had played in the animated dead into their game. 

"Animated dead! Was Vlad hinting at a problem? Is Danny somehow caught up in it?" As far as she knew, Vlad didn't do field work, but then again, neither did Danny. Her baby stayed as far from ghosts as humanly possible.

'I'll have to ask Danny when he gets home.' Maddie thought as she cleaned up. 'Hopefully he won't try to hide it from me.'

---

"I don't know how much longer I can hide this guys. Valerie's following me and I think my mom might be getting suspicious." It was early, just before school, and the day's paranoia was already setting in.

"Your mom's not going to… wait, Valerie is following you?" Sam said calmly, her face betraying her jealous and irritated feelings.

"I told you she digs you!" Tucker said a little too loudly. Several students turned to look for a moment, causing Danny's feet to disappear shortly afterward.

"Tucker! Not so loud." Danny hissed. "Valerie might hear you."

"Danny, your feet." Tucker gestured with his PDA.

Danny looked down to see that his shoes had vanished and nothing was underneath. "Oh man, I haven't done that in a while." he said as they came back into view.

"At least it wasn't your pants." Sam dead panned. Secretly she was relieved. If it was only his shoes, then he may have gotten over Valerie.

"Don't start that again. I haven't had that problem in a long time." Danny frowned knowing that it wouldn't help.

"But you gave the school a good view of your boxers and right in front of Paullina. I got pictures." Tucker smiled as he pulled them up on his PDA. "See, shows your better side."

"Tucker, turn that off. We have a bigger problem on our hands." Danny's eyes turned green.

At that moment, the bell rang, signaling the start of school. And the rush of students reluctantly trudging to class, not wanting to be late, but not wanting enter class quite yet. Last minute conversations were underway in the last moments of freedom that morning.

"Yes, like being tardy. Come on Danny, we'll worry about the ghosts later." Sam as she dragged the boys to class.

Danny didn't get to tell them about his late night adventure.

---

Skulker walked through the park where Danny's energy blipped last night. Old blood and rotting flesh clung to everything in the area including his polished boots.

He spotted a patch of lessened decay, a body's outline. His scanners picked up a dark energy from the spot. "Looks like our problems are just starting. Masters will want to know about his."

---

Danny couldn't concentrate as Lancer read poetry. "The temperature's trying to pass fifty-five. I'm freezing but at least I'm alive…"

A chill swept down Danny's back as he remembered last night. Skeletons had haunted his dreams. No one else knew about her, and she could be anywhere. The feeling of death and disgust still lingered in his bones.

Valerie had started to look nervous beside him. She leaned over and asked, "Are you alright?"

Danny shook his head to clear it. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You're contradicting your self." her eyes narrowed and Danny knew she wasn't buying it. He couldn't shake the feeling either, if anything, it grew stronger.

Before he could assure her that he was fine, loud screaming was heard from the hallway.

There was a shift in the air and nervous chatter started. Lancer stopped reading Fight and tried to calm the kids down. "Stay in your seats, I'll go see what happened."

As soon as Lancer left the kids got louder. Many kids thought it was a ghost. Only one knew otherwise. Danny attempted to sneak out of the classroom. Unfortunately Valerie followed him

"Where do you think you are going? Mr. Lancer said to stay in our seats." Valerie looked a little angry.

"I have to go to the bathroom?" Danny hoped she would leave him alone so he could take care of the problem. No such luck.

"More like you're afraid of the ghosts." her brow furled as she frowned. "I'm going with you."

"No…" Lancer's cry cut Danny off.

"Lord of the flies! What in the tarnations is that thing?"

A brown teddy bear, eyes glowing red and teeth dripping with blood, stood in the middle of the halls. The little girl from last night was behind it, and she looked angry. Her blue eyes settled on Danny. "Silicon, get him."

Danny knew instantly that she meant him. He had to find somewhere to transform without revealing his identity. Valerie had followed him pulling out a gun.

"Don't worry Danny; I'll protect you from these nasties." She shot over her shoulder, hitting the bear. It let out a loud roar.

Danny ducked into an open door and ran into an empty class room. Suddenly he wished he hadn't It was the biology room, with stuffed animal whose eyes stared into his soul.

A blast fired behind him and he heard the door fall down. The walls vibrated with the force of Valerie's body hitting a wall. Danny ran for the windows, knowing they were after him.

"You can't escape. You're coming with me whether you like it or not." Energy spiked and he heard bones creak from lack of use. Dusty feathers beat in the air. Suddenly he agreed with Sam, animals should not be stuffed.

He launched himself up to the window sill, but dear old Fred, the school's skeleton it the closet, grabbed onto his right arm and yanked him back down. He didn't have time to get his feet under him so his left hand hit the ground with his full weight. A sickening crunch echoed though the room.

Valerie must have heard it because she turned on her full suite. A red blast took care of he skeleton and several more got rid of the stuffed animals.

Through Danny's dazed shock, he heard Checka throwing a temper tantrum. "Don't hurt my bear! I'm gonna kill you! You're a big meanie, breaking my toys!"

Danny grasped his wrist. 'Yep, I think it's defiantly broken. Oh look, I can make it hang at an odd angle and it doesn't hurt.'

The fight must have ended because Valerie bent down next to him. her armor gone. "Danny, are you alright?" concern glowed in her eyes.

"I think my arm's broken." He held it out to her and watched in sick fascination as it flopped the wrong way.

"Doesn't that hurt?" her face took on a green look.

"Not right now, but it probably will when the adrenalin wears off."

---

Valerie fidgeted in her seat outside the hospital room. Despite her attempts to protect him, Danny had gotten hurt. That thing that she had fought wasn't human, but it was no ghost.

A nurse walked in the door with wraps in her hand. Valerie's lips curled down. The doctors said it would take two to four weeks to heal, and even then he shouldn't be doing anything with that hand.

Valerie assumed that the girl was sent by Master's enemies, but the assumption that they wanted to keep it quiet was out. The two broken bones would bring Danny's parents on the scene soon.

"We are finished. You may go in now." The nurse smiled.

Valerie pushed down her urge to rush in and nodded. She had been able to go with him only on the account that Danny was in shock and wanted her with him. For someone who hated dealing with ghosts, he was awfully calm. But then again, with his household…

Valerie barely noticed as her feet brought her into the emergency room

"Hey Val." Danny's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.

"How are you doing?" She managed to smile for him.

"The cast is itchy and my parents will be here any moment. I can already hear dad driving the family assault vehicle. And there's a cat, still frozen to the street barely an inch out dad's war path, saved by mom. I just know it." Danny threw both hands down. "Ouch!"

Valerie couldn't help but laugh at him while he rubbed his arm. It was moments like these that made him so lovable. "Don't hurt yourself."

Danny rolled his eyes, "A little too late for that isn't it?'

Another chuckle escaped her lips before she turn serious. "Do you know why they were after you?"

She watched as his face turned pale, "I uh…" He looked everywhere but at her. "No. I-I don't.

She knew he was lying. Before, he knew they were coming. That was why he was nervous. Vlad didn't tell her the whole truth, but she understood why. "You can sense when ghosts and the supernatural are around. That's why you flip out all the time. Before, you knew that thing was there long before anyone else."

"Uh…"

Danny's parents burst into the room. She knew that there would be no more information out of him.

A squeak could be heard when Jack wrapped his son in a bone crushing hug. "Dad! My arm! Watch the arm!"

"Oh sorry. So was it a ghost?"

"No dad, I was pulled down from a bench and landed on my am wrong."

Valerie frowned. 'Why is he lying? Oh well, I'll talk to him later, when his parents aren't hovering.'

She tried to walk out the door but was stopped by Mrs. Fenton, "Were you there?" Valerie nodded and Danny's mother continued, "Will you come by and tell me exactly what happened? I'm a bit worried."

'So even Danny's mom has caught on. Maybe I'll find out what's going on yet.' She nodded to Mrs. Fenton "Yeah, I'll come by and check on him."

---

Masters was not happy. Only one of his employees was brave enough to give him the news of the latest breach in security. That one was now getting an earful of curses and dodging a few ill tempered blasts.

"How could you idiots let this happen? I give you one simple job; look out for those rouges, and what happens? His arm is broken, the school is trashed and my pawn is starting to suspect something!"

Skulker just calmly waited for Vlad to blow his steam Vlad had nothing to direct his anger at, and strong as he was, he really didn't want it at him.

"They are using different techniques than before."

"I know that!" One of the ghost servants could swear that fire emitted from his mouth. The next day he retired.

"What we need is a way to nullify this problem before it gets worse."

Skulker knew he shouldn't but it was too good to resist. "His mom and Valerie are going to talk over what happened. It seems that Maddie is getting suspicious."

It was a good thing he was prepared for the outburst that came next, dodging out of the way. The blast took out the wall behind him.

"That is not what I wanted to hear." the fury in the ghost king's eyes could only be matched by a dragon's. "Keep them away from each other."

Skulker nodded knowing that it would be a challenge. "And if the boy interferes?"

Vlad had managed to calm himself down, "I'll take care of that."

---

Danny fidgeted, and twitched again. The cast was terribly itchy. He wanted to phase out of it, but knew that it would defeat the purpose.

He put down the pencil and leaned back in is chair. Now that his hand was free, he used it to scratch his broken arm. Just because he couldn't phase out of it, didn't mean he couldn't phase in.

"Why does Lancer give out so much homework? I have better things to do, like figuring out how I'm going to fight one-handed." The door opened and he fell back, arm, chair and all.

Maddie looked down at her son sprawled out on the ground and sighed. "Danny, how many times have I told not to lean back in your chair?"

"A lot?" he wasn't hurt, just startled. He wasn't expecting his mom to come in, and he wanted to know how his ghost form would handle a broken arm.

Maddie sat down on his bed, "So how did you break your arm?"

Danny attempted to struggle his way to his feet, but only managed to some how tangle himself and the chair up more. His face started to turn red, whether from his upside down position, or embarrassment, even he couldn't tell, "Um… I fell on it after being pulled down. I told you that."

The look on his mom's face told him that she didn't buy it, "There was an attack on your school. Mr. Lancer said you were the target."

Danny jerked, almost getting to his feet, but the chair tripped him and his left arm screamed at him for the jar. He winced and sat up. "Well it was chasing me. I didn't want dad to flip out that it was ghost. It wasn't."

"Do you know what it was then?" Danny was relived that she was taking it better than he thought she would.

"No, but it was scary. I tried to run, but it caught up. I… I don't remember much after my arm broke." Danny smiled as innocently as he could, hoping she would leave him alone now.

It seems his mom had other ideas. "This isn't the first time you've been attacked, is it?"

'What? No! Help! Jazz help! No, please don't know. Please don't know!' "Um…" He prayed that something, anything would save him. "Uh…"

"Danny I saw your clothes and the blood stains in the bathroom. Was that your blood? What happened?"

'Crap. Stupid skeletons that I couldn't phase though, stupid C average intelligence. I hope this works. "Mom, I don't really want to talk about it."

From his mother's expression, he could tell she wanted him to tell her what happened. She was worried, but he couldn't tell her, it might reveal his secret. He hated lying, but it was for the best, especially for him.

"Danny, if you don't tell me I can't help."

"I know." 'That's the point.' "I'm not ready to talk about it." Danny looked down and closed his eyes, praying to what ever gods or deities listening that she wouldn't figure him out.

He could feel her eyes boring into him. "Alright, but if this happens again, tell me. I'm going to make dinner."

He didn't open his eyes until she left. Silently he thanked what ever gods had heard him. What he didn't know was that god was one of chaos and mischief, and was just getting started. 


	6. Chapter 6

SS: Ok, I'm back. Still can't find Raditz, but I did find this young one. 

Youngblood: Let me go!

SS: Naw, I think I'll keep you.

Young blood blows a toy dart at shadow and it sticks to her forehead.

SS: Hey!

---  
"Checka, I told you that you couldn't just capture him." Tomowashi sat in a tree in the woods just outside Amity Park. Checka was underneath, fixing her damaged bear.

"I'll get them for this. They broke my toys." the small girl said as she roughly pulled thread through the bear and a dead bird she was attaching onto its arm.

Tomowashi clicked on her radio, "What's our status report?"

A boy's voice replied, "The guard is doubled. The ghost king is in the burrow and the metal hunter is flying on patrol."

"Sounds like we've upped their defenses. That's just great, now we're never going to get the prince." the woman leaned back in her tree and sighed.

"I can stir up a little trouble, distract the guards, but you have to grab the brat. I'll beat him later." Checka spat out the words like venom.

"We have to wait. They suspect too much as is."

---

Danny tapped his pencil against his homework, contemplating his terrible luck. Once again, Vlad was downstairs, playing that stupid dice game with his parents. Danny still didn't know if he could fight or even if his cast would transfer over. The whole ordeal was bugging him.

His mom wouldn't let him go back to school yet, which was fine by him. It gave him time to finish homework. On the down side, Sam and Tucker hadn't been able to come over.

Down stairs, Maddie and Vlad sat in the living room with a fresh pot of tea set before them.

"So, Vlad, why exactly are you here in this small town of Amity Park?" Maddie asked as she poured out some tea.

Vlad knew what she really wanted to know, but wasn't inclined to tell her. "Axion labs is down here, I need to help with management. There are some changes in security I need to oversee. Especially since we lost the satellite to ghosts." half truths are some of the best cover-ups.

"I see." Maddie sat down next to him.

Jack was off getting more potato chips and other snacks. Sometimes he was such a glutton. She was a little nervous to be alone with Vlad, she still remembered the mountains incident, but she needed to know. Besides, Danny was upstairs, a good excuse if she got uncomfortable.

"What do you know of the attack on the school yesterday?" Maddie studied his expression as it seemed to solidify. It was like he built a wall of steal between them, an unusual expression for him to give her. Before, in their younger years, during college, he was always completely open with her. Now he it was as if he were part of another world.

"I heard that Daniel was the target, and that his arm was broken. Beyond that, the details were sketchy, all speculation and gossip." Vlad carefully took a sip of his tea. No secrets would escape his lips.

"It wasn't the first time he was attacked. I found blood on his clothes." her shoulders slumped. "I wish he would tell me about these things. He's getting hurt."

Opportunity is not something to waste. That was something Vlad learned early and well. "I could take him back with me to Wisconsin. Make sure he stays out of trouble, and get his grades up. Being the youngest in a home of ghost hunters is taking its toll; maybe a vacation would do him good." Vlad hated to use his power of suggestion on Maddie, but this once was an exception. A small sacrifice in morals was excusable in this much bigger game. Protecting Daniel was the priority.

For a moment she thought it over. "Vlad you know I can't do that. He doesn't like you much." Maddie paused, "Vlad what's really going on? Why do they want Danny, besides the obvious? This isn't just linage; it has something to do with him directly."

Vlad almost visibly twitched. Now he was getting the brunt of her strong mindedness. She truly could be stubborn sometimes. For a brief moment he wondered how Daniel managed to keep things from her.

What lies to spin? Keep things consistent. That way when things come to light, the important secrets stay secret. "Maddie, this is mostly my fault. You know that Daniel has one of the closest connections to me of anyone. They're using him to get at me. You understand why I can't do anything directly."

Maddie's eye's widened. She knew exactly what he was talking about, but, "You got us into a lot of trouble huh? Can't stay out of it, can you?"

"I'm rolling in gold, what do you expect?" he smiled, willing her to laugh.

She didn't. "Vlad, if anything happens to him, it'll be your head."

He grabbed her hands and made direct eye contact. "If anything happens due to my incompetence, I'll cut it off and give it to you myself."

---

"Why can't I! I'm fine; it's just a broken arm. I'm not going to trip over my own feet." Danny was fully dressed, backpack slung over his shoulder, and ready to go. Maddie was slightly surprised at his insistence to go to school, but passed it off as his dislike of being cooped up.

Jack backed her up, "Danny listen to your mother. She knows best after all."

"But Dad, I'm not a baby. Besides, I need to make my classes. Lancer is going to be upset as it is. If I'm gone much longer, he'll probably blow a gasket"

Maddie straitened up to Danny's height. "I appreciate your sudden interest in school, but after the last time, I'm keeping you home."

"But mom…"

"No buts! Now march yourself up to your room and put your backpack away. You're staying home."

For a moment she thought he wouldn't comply, but without further argument, he trudged up the stairs.

---

"This sucks." Danny kicked his backpack before slumping face down on his bed. "How am I supposed to fight these guys off when I'm here? Then again, they are after me so I'm the only one they're going to attack." he shuttered at the memory.

Rolling onto his back, he stared at model rockets on his shelf. "I'd like to know why they want me. Vlad doesn't wanted want them to have me, so does that mean they are good. No, that girl was scary."

The night before he had updated his files, placing them into their own folder on his computer. Still, he didn't know much about them and it was driving him crazy. He couldn't even toss them into the ghost zone like he did with most ghosts.

So intent on his thoughts, Danny didn't at first notice the tug on his mind. That was until a cold cloth clamped onto his face and wrapped it's self around his nose and mouth. Panic rose in his chest due to his sudden inability to breath and he flailed.

His hand hit something solid. It grunted and he heard a quiet whisper in his ear, "Hush young prince. I mean you no harm. I just don't want to have to contend with your mother. She is quite scary when she wants to be, don't you think?"

Dizziness and confusion swept over his mind. Something was humming giving off a lethargic, drifting feeling. Battle instincts kicked in and he found himself under the bed and away from the cause of his distress.

'So that's where that rocket went…' his mind struggled to center itself. Faintly he knew had to fight her, but that soft rhythm continued to gently push him toward sleep. 'She drugged me.' That thought brought him back to the world. From the center of his being he called upon his power, replacing his human body with light, almost buoyant, ectoplasma. He shot out from under his bed, caching her under the chin with his good hand, sending her into his dresser.

A small part of his mind noted that his left hand hung limply, uncasted. There was no pain, but he knew better than to use it. Another part of his mind saw that his opponent was Tomowashi. Beyond that, Danny had no clue as to how to fight her. He didn't even know what she was.

She pulled herself up and went through the action of dusting herself off. "So violent."

"What do you want?"

"The rings of life and death, you have them yet have no control over them. We can help you; we just need your cooperation."

"You're as crazy as the girl with the bear. I'm not going with you." Danny formed ectoplasma in his hands.

She dodged to the right of the first blast, rolled under the second, popped and wrapped her arms around him before he could fire a third. Like the skeletons from earlier, he couldn't phase out of her arms.

"Quit struggling. You're only making things harder." Tomowashi tried to get the cloth back over his mouth.

With the edge of his boot he scraped down her leg, trying to loosen her grip. That was when he found out that her cargo pants were made of very strong leather, she didn't even flinch.

That was when Danny went for plan B. "Mom! There's a ghost in the house!" A knee hit his stomach knocking the air out of his lungs. The deed was already done. Fast footsteps rushed up the stairs.

Not fast enough. The pain from his inability to breath turned off his brain for a short moment. A moment that his attacker took advantage of. The cloth once again warped around his mouth and the humming started back up. Darkness enclosed around his vision. The last thing he remembered was white rings and a distant door slamming open.


	7. Chapter 7

SS: dlsky thank you for your nice long reviews. Everyone fallow his/her example! Actually it's nice to get a review telling me what I'm doing right, and advice as to what I should do in the future. Don't worry, all shall be reviled.

To Shades-of-Pink, I'm hoping that I'll have more time as must as you do, but don't get those hopes to high. Live has been a constant struggle, thus my stories. 

A side note, Evidently Failer has been well liked, so I'm going to do a sequel. I just read though my stories, and have found that it took me an hour to get though this one. Wow. It was also a lot of fun! I can't wait for the next chapter, oh wait, I have to write that don't I?

Youngblood: Duh.

SS: Your still here?

Youngblood: Don't want to be.

---

Patience was not one of his strong points, but it was something that he had learned during his Millennia on earth. Age had many advantages. Many were completely unaware of it, including the young musician next to him.

She was the fading star of her age, unable to make it in life, so she continued on as a ghost. The life after death suited her well, unlike many.

He remembered when Vlad first found her and began to make use of her talents. In return she got free access to the human world and endorsement of her tours.

What she didn't know when she made the deal was that Vlad was a little out there, and had a strange way of going about things. A smile formed on his lips as her fingers twitched back toward her recently fixed guitar. The spirit of youth and all of it's impatience glowed in her eyes. He loved small moments like this, it was why he kept his job.

"Wait Ember. Let the prey come to us. They may have even learned their lesson." The glare she gave him enhanced the makeup on her face. He started to laugh when a dark force was picked up on his sensors. "Or maybe you'll get your fun after all. It's up two blocks; the power is the same as yesterday. Be careful."

"I'm, on it pops. After last time, I wouldn't have it any other way." She flew off, her cockiness showing in every movement.

He turned his attention to his prey err, charge. The boy was in some kind of argument with his parents. He brought up a pair of binocular to get a better look. It seemed that Vlad had efficiently channeled the ghost hunters' emotions, keeping the boy home. That would make him far easier to guard.

The boy stormed upstairs to his room in frustration, unaware of the amusement value he gave others.

A beep forced his attention back to the radar. The darkness was increasing and he picked up the sound of a guitar string breaking. He didn't want to leave his post, but if the boy or his parents heard anything, it would make it that much harder to protect him.

With no small amount of reluctance, he pressed a button, pooffing out the rockets. With a roar they came to life, propelling him toward the power.

---

A golem. Many centuries had passed since he had last seen one. They were rare, and extremely dangerous. Spirits like Ember stood little chance against one. And now she was in a lot of trouble.

Why a golem would suddenly appear in this time period, he would ponder over later. What he did know was that from now on, things would have to be handled a little differently.

Normally Golems would be given a single task, as they were bulky and single minded. With the ease this one moved, the wizard controlling it was probably near by.

Ember was knocked to the ground, and barely rolled out of the way of another attack. Still, he did not step in to help her.

"There." A small girl stood in the shadows watching. She didn't look like much, but the dark power was rolling off of her in waves telling him the truth. He fired a rocket at her.

Dust swarmed the air, blocking his scanners and obscuring his visual. For a second he thought he had hit. Then a frame leapt up to the screen, warning him a moment too late.

A paw slammed into his armor. Metal screeched in protest as he fell into the ground. He rolled with a clank out of the way of the next attack.

Up close the brown-red golem reminded him of a bear and his wrestling days. The stench of flesh did not diverge him from his task. He blocked a stitched paw, meal groaning in prost, and blasted the mutant beast with his other hand.

Ember came in and bashed its head with the beat up guitar. A resonate sound emitted from the broken thing as it barely kept from shattering on impact.

The bear turned on her and nearly bit her leg off. During the free moment he got to his feet and fired three missiles which knocked it over on impact.

An alarm blared in his suite, giving him a sharp head pain. As Ember blasted the bear he realized that this was a distraction. The real attack had already been finished.

"Vlad will have my head and barbeque it if I don't get the brat back." he pulled out his box of creatures and threw it to the ground, releasing them. "Ember, hold them off, I have business to attend do."

He ignored her cry of protest as he took off back toward the Fentons' house.

---

Danny woke with a migraine the size of Texas. It was so intense, he was afraid to open his eyes. How long he had lain there attempting to suppress the pain he didn't know.

It wasn't until he heard voices that he realized he didn't know where he was. Still he wouldn't open his eyes. Instead he patted his hands around, wincing when his left informed him it refused to move.

Mr. Good hand felt an edge that he thought was a table. "Yo! Vlad! Looks like the brat's waking up." A male voice shouted over his headache making it worse.

"Shut up. I don't want him awake." That was defiantly the cheese head. The boy didn't know whether to be relieved or annoyed. On one hand he knew how to deal with this enemy, on the other he didn't know how he came to be in Vlad's possession. And his head hurt.

"Looks like he already is." The light through his eye lids dimmed. "You alive kid?" 

Something touched his bad arm, sending a sharp pain up his arm. Danny sat up and threw an ecto blast at whoever was above him. Then he clutched his arm, attempting to calm his fired up nerves, all without opening his eyes.

A grunt of pain told him that he hit his target. "Great, now he is awake. Do not blame me, it serves you right. That was his bad arm, and you were none too gentle with him."

Danny cracked open one eye, squinting at the light. After a moment he slowly opened the other. Suddenly they adjusted and dark green eyes stared deep into his soul, dragging him into their deep, dark, murky abyss. He was unable to suppress a yelp as he fell backwards off the table.

Thud. "Ow!"

The laugher did not please him. "That wasn't funny."

"I call it payback. And yes it was. Besides you owe me." The taller man leaned down threatenly. Hands splayed out.

"No, you can not have him. How many times do I have to tell you that?"

"Vlad, I wasn't even suggesting that. Besides, his pelt would probably tear when I skinned him."

Danny looked over his antagonist. Red hair, human, funky clothes, pointed ears, fangs. Nope still didn't recognize him. Yet his voice and manner oddly reminded him of someone. Who?

"Just get out. You only make things worse." it looked like Vlad was getting Danny's migraine. He was rubbing his temples and had closed his eyes. 'To bad I don't have a camera; I'd hang that on my wall.'

"But I'm the one who does all the work around here, all of it."

"Out!"

"Alright. I'm going, I'm going. Sheesh, no need to eat me."

A few moments of silence echoed through the room. Vlad had taken the time to sit down as Danny surveyed his surroundings. 'Naturally, a lab. Let's see, Junk, Vlad, some stuff that's glowing and I have no clue what it is, more junk….'

"Cheese head. Who was that?"

Said cheese head looked up at Danny and brought a hand to his head, "None of your concern. Please, no questions; just go back to sleep. I have things to do."

For once the boy almost felt sorry for the older man, the pained expression his face reminded him of his own fading headache. It would be him who would have to deal with his mom.

Keyword, almost.

"I'm not tired."

"Then sit there and don't touch anything." the chair slammed in. Vlad took a deep steady breath and adjusted it.

"What are the rings of life and death?" For a moment, Danny thought he had killed Vlad with one simple question. Then an intense yet interesting series of expressions crossed his face and his knuckles turned white on the chair.

"Tomowashi told you about them I presume."

"Yep."

"Forget about it." Vlad turned to leave.

"I guess I'll have to ask her. Wonder where she is."

"Daniel!" The room seemed to quiver in fear as the older man took a moment to refrain from killing the younger boy. "Just stay away from her."

"Why?"

"Because she's dangerous. If they capture you, you may not come back."

"Are we going back to the chess thing again?"

"No Daniel. This is real life. You are important, whether you realize it or not. This is nothing like your childish fights with ghosts. They have waited centuries for a chance like this."

Realizing he said too much the older man stopped.

Time slowed down and raced by at the same time… For a brief moment there was not a lab, but a burning courtyard and it was gone.

"What chance would that be?"

Vlad looked down into the eyes of the younger boy, "The chance for revenge. And, for them redemption..." 


	8. Chapter 8

SS: Hi, we're back. I think it's time to say something: this is set shortly after _Flirting with Disaster_ and before _Reality Trip_. 

Clockwork: Of course.

SS: Yeah, you already knew that.

Clockwork: I know everything.

SS: One of these days I'm going to steal your time portal. That way I could find out the rest of this story, and who dlsky was talking about.

Clockwork: If you knew the rest of this story, you wouldn't write it down so you could find out.

SS: umm… on with the story! 'while I heal/kill Clockwork.'

---

Slowly the podium swung back and forth. Tick, tock. With every swing a moment past yet he was never any closer to figuring out the vast puzzle that his life seemed to have fallen into.

_Life and death rises and falls with every beat of the phoenix's wing._

Vlad still refused to tell him anything, or at least explain himself. Instead he shoved Danny into this room and told him, "I am going to fix this. Stay here until I'm done. Leave and I won't be able to cover our tail, your mother is close enough to the truth as it is."

Now Danny's only company was the grandfather's clock who carefully counted the seconds. It reminded him of the time master himself. Maybe he had the answers. Plasmus most certainly won't give him any.

He rolled over and the polonium seemed to defy gravity, swing upside down.

---

Vlad did not want to make that phone call. Once he did, he'd be sucked into the lies once again. The phone did not move as he stared at it, willing the deed to just be done.

"The phone won't pick it's self up." Green eyes replaced the phone and red hair pointed to the ground.

"You call then." Blue turned red.

"Naw, you can do that. I did my part remember?"

_Vlad flew over the city the stricken child still in his arms. From time to time, the boy moaned and twitched. Vlad knew that the spell that echoed across time to do this to him was very strong._

_As much as he seemed to, Vlad didn't know everything about what was happening, but Skulker did. Vlad knew it was only a matter of beating the information out of him. Of course the elf would probably be stubborn about it._

_Ember called weakly behind him, asking him to slow down. He did, not wanting to lose an employee. He lost far too many as it was, mostly due to a certain obnoxious obsessive hunter._

_The mansion seemed to appear before him, and it was about time. Another wave of power blasted out from the boy's body before Vlad landed. A ghost servant came out and offered to carry his charge, but Vlad only gesture with his head over to Ember. He was perfectly capable of carrying the boy himself and her guitar was broken, weakening her._

_Swiftly he walked down to his not so secret lab, ignoring the walls. Skulker was already setting up grinning manically._

_Vlad shook his head as he placed the prince on the table. "Skulker, no you may not cut him open, no, you may not have his pelt."_

_The red head tried to speak but Vlad cut him off already knowing what he was going to say, "No Skulker, you may not keep him for a pet. Maddie would have my head."_

_"Do you think that if I give it to her…" he grinned, winking one of his forest green eyes._

_"No, she wouldn't go for it. Shut up, and stop trying. Now how do I fix it?"_

_Silence…_

_"Skulker!"_

_"What? You told me to shut up." The elf's smile widened, some how, some way. Vlad still didn't know how he could do that, and not split his face open. Probably magic._

_"You have till six to fix this, I have to have him home by then. I do assume you can fix it by then."_

_The smile dropped into a scowl. "What do I look like, God?"_

_"No, you're too ugly."_

_The elf scoffed at that. He knew that he was by no means ugly. Women had thrown themselves into his arms, and he could please them in ways they never though possible. However, he didn't want the boy to die, he was far too much fun to mess with, besides he came as a package deal with Vlad._

_He walked out of the room to get supplies. He remembered the spell, mostly because he knew it would come back and bite the boy in the butt later. It wouldn't be hard to fix, just a good dose silver and lavender, and an hour work in magic along with the counter spell and lots of selling spells. Nope not hard when you were as cool as Skulker, the worlds greatest hunter, collector of unusual things. Of course it would only fix the immediate problems, not the more permanent ones, but nothing short of a soul healer could fix that._

"Good. Now be a good little dragon and call your mate. If you beg, she might forgive you." the elf patted his head from behind, and pulled back quickly. Proper as Vlad was, he still bit when provoked.

"I will when I am damn ready to."

"The longer you put it off, the longer she'll worry and the louder she'll get."

"I know that!" Vlad sent a blast at the nuisance who left, presumably to bug one of the servants.

Vlad took a deep breath and picked up the phone.

---

Maddie blasted another one of the ghost stragglers back to the ghost zone. There was the wreckage of a fight, but the major ones were gone, and no Danny.

Just ectobeasts. She had only seen the back of the ghost who took her baby: although she wasn't sure that it was a ghost. It taken Jack and her a few hours to track these down, yet she felt that the kidnapper was long gone by now.

Silently she cursed herself. She should have stayed with him. Even in her own home, she couldn't protect her boy.

It wasn't all her fault she knew, Vlad was keeping her, everyone, in the dark. When she spoke to him next, she was going to chew him out like he had never been chewed out before. That wall between them was going down and he would tell her exactly what he had done this time.

Rich off his ass wouldn't cut it, couldn't, cut it. Too much damage happened when he was around.

Just as she rounded the corner finding the last of her prey, her phone rung in _Star Wars_ music. Vlad.

Danny had gotten her the phone after the little mountains incident. At the time she though it was silly, but now she was thankful. Danny had also set her ring tones for her. Why he gave Vlad _Star Wars_ music was beyond her. At the moment though, it was very fitting.

During her moment of distraction the ectopuss got away. Cursing she picked up the phone.

"Did you find him?"

"Calm down Maddie, deep breath." Vlad's voice attempted to sooth.

"Calm down? Calm down! My baby is missing, and there have been ghost attacks, and attacks from things that aren't ghosts, and somehow this is all your fault!" she finished panting the entire street suddenly quiet.

"Maddie, I have him. He is safe and wee enough to throw insults at me."

"Has he been hut? Let me talk to him! Now!" Her fist hit the brick wall of a building, leaving a dent.

"He is asleep at the moment, with all of the excitement he just crashed. I checked him over and there are no injuries beyond a few bruises, probably from fighting back. Daniel gave one of my employs a good one to the face for jarring that arm. He is a fighter, just like you."

"Vlad, I'm coming to get him."

"No! I mean, I will drop him off when he wakes up."

That old suspicion rose up again. Where exactly was Vlad staying? Why didn't he want her at his place? "Vlad, tell me why him. Does he have something they want?"

"Maddie, it is a matter of black mail."

"No it's not! Who are they and why my boy?"

"Maddie…"

"Don't Maddie me! They aren't ghosts and they aren't human so it's not linage. What did you do to piss them off?

A pregnant pause, and then a long sigh. 'Finally, he's going to give me some real information.'

"They are the Twilight Order."

"What!" The Twilight Order was not what she was expecting to hear. It was the most dangerous group in the world. They consisted of the living dead: zombies, vampires, and the like. The Shadow Ages were said to be started by them before written history.

Never had she worried about them before. She had always assumed that a group that big should have, would have been, "Vlad, you knew?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"If I told you that…"

"I'm already involved, and worst, so is Danny!"

"He's the one they have been waiting for."

_The phoenix sung her sorrow, as she burst in to flames;_

_And in those flames were forged the rings of life and death._

_Gently she rested her head as her ashes were scattered across time and dimension._

"Not him. He's my baby, he's too young."

"I'm afraid so."


	9. Chapter 9

SS: I'd have posted this sooner, but my internet was down. Clockwork and I were talking, and it seems that this story is drawing to a close very soon. 

Clockwork: That depends on how you write it. 

SS: I know! But I don't want it to end.

Clockwork: Then write a sequel.

SS: Ok, I guess, that is if anyone wants one.

---

Silence was key. His prey was totally unaware of him, completely memorized by the clock. Probably half asleep, but from his position he couldn't be sure.

A small shift but not one of wakefulness. Years of practice kept him from freezing up. He let the stillness of the room and the sound of the clock flow through him, disguising his energy. The excitement of the hunt store for latter instead of seeping out and disturbing his prey.

Ten minutes passed as he slowly let the energy drift him over to the bed. His prey's toes twitched slightly due to a small shift in the air current. He steadied his breathing smoothly and the foot relaxed.

Five more minutes passed as he crept his hands down to the covers, always relaxed.

Flip.

The boy didn't have time to make a sound before he met the grandfather clock up close and personal. Laughter rang in his ears, making it hard to piece together what had happened. He had been about to fall asleep when wham!

Now he was upside down, Danny place his good hand on the floor, managing a decent handstand, and kicked off the top of the clock. Planting both feet firmly on the ground he turned to face his attacker… 

The red head from earlier held the deep violet sheet in both hands, bed between the two. "What was that for!"

"You owe me. Besides, it was fun."

"Who are you?" Danny wanted to hit him again, but he doubted that Vlad would be happy with him if he did.

"You don't recognize me? I'm hurt. I've helped you out more than once." the blanket rose between them and landed neatly on the bed.

"Nope. Think I'd recognized someone as crazy as you, especially with red hair and the Santa's elves look going on."

"Really, let me help you." A very shiny and very pointy sharp arrow head was pointing right between his eyes. The bow to fire it was bent almost full circle, bloody red and very elegant. "I am the world's greatest hunter, and I never miss my mark. I can hit the eye of a beetle from six hundred feet; don't compare me to that childish fantasy again."

The twange of release echoed through the room and the clock stopped. Danny didn't need to turn around to know that the arrow had pierced though the face of the clock, effectively killing time.

"Um, yeah…" Danny attempted to edge around to the door. He suddenly would rather take his chances with Vlad.

Seeing that his prey was attempting to escape the hunter blocked the door. "Now, now, I won't kill you… yet. Besides, you still own me."

"You're psycho."

"Thank you. Much better." A suddenly cheerful grin crossed the hunter's face.

"What do you want from me?" Danny wanted nothing more that to be out of that room. He'd rather fight Pariah Dark all over again, at least then he knew what he where they stood.

"Nothing rally, you are a pain to keep track of though, you know?"

"Who are you?" the boy's hands twitched, drawing power into them.

"You really don't know? I though you were smarter than that."

Danny stared at him… "Helen War Buck Keller?"

"You are a lost cause. Vlad should just kill you and make another one."

"Tried that, I say he should just get a cat."

"Ah, yes the clone thing. Told him it was a bad idea. Did he listen? Nooo."

Danny relaxed a little; maybe this guy wasn't that dangerous. Just crazy. "So, are you going to tell me your name, or am I just going to call you Shego."

At first Danny thought that he was going to get hit, instead the older man laughed. "Shego, I'm going to have to remember that one. Heh. Well brat, I have been called many things, Orion, Arden, Phantom panther… I've forgotten more names than you've ever heard. But the one I go by in this day and age is Skulker."

---

Vlad walked by his most annoying employee, who looked far to pleased with himself. He didn't want to give Daniel up, but there wasn't much choice in the matter. Now that Maddie knew the full extent of the problem, a horde of demons wouldn't be able to keep her from protecting her child.

Said child was sitting on the bed, staring at the clock, which had an arrow sticking though where the hands connected. 'Skulker!' Only the long history they had together kept Vlad from hunting him down and killing him.

"Daniel, I will take you home, but you will tell no one about this." It wasn't that the boy was stupid; he knew that here would be no secrets reveled, but the boy was too young, and not even trained.

"Just because I'm a C student doesn't mean I'm going to be that stupid!"

And that he couldn't keep his grades up… "Your mother knows too much. No matter what she says, keep your mouth shut. She does not know everything, just enough to make the situation sticky. Which means, do not transform around her, and stay in the house."

"What! Why? This is my fight. Stay out of it."

That headache that was from Daniel started to get worst. 'I know that teens never do as they are told, but this is ridiculous.'

"Because I said. Maddie is not going to let you out of the house until I say it is safe so get used to it."

---

"The enemy leader is leaving with the target." the blond said from his perch in a tree.

"Where are they heading?" Tomowashi cracked over the head set.

"Due north." he said after another look in his binoculars.

"Back to Amity? Good, this will make things easier. Does he have any escorts?"

"None."

"Good, follow them, on my signal, you attack."

---

Danny knew Vlad was ignoring him, yet he continued to glare regardless.

'Only a few more blocks till I'm home free, and away from that creep.'

Finally bored with glaring, it was making his eyes hurt, he turned to stare out the backset window. The familiar streets passed by when something blue caught his eye. It disappeared before he could identify it.

Turning around, Danny searched for it through the back window. That feeling that he had been having since the beginning of this circus intensified slightly.

"Daniel! Sit right! The last thing I need is a ticket because of you."

Another flash, his time he got a small glimpse of a human figure before it disappeared behind a roof edge.

"Daniel!"

"Someone is following us." he cut off he older man.

A small shift fell about the car like a curtain and Danny felt all of his senses intensify. "Did you recognize who?"

"No one I know."

"Hopefully it is just the scout."

Another flash, landing on the building next to them. "Scout?"

"They have been watching you for some time. How else would they know when and where to attack?"

"Are we going to have to fight?" the hair on the back of his prickled as Vlad stopped at the sign.

"You are not fighting anyone. If we do get attacked, you are staying behind me. However, I doubt that they will. We are in the middle of the city and I am far stronger that anything they could throw at us."

A second later that thought was disproved when someone landed on the car.

"What were you saying?"

The right window smashed in and Danny flung himself into the oppose seat, twisting his seatbelt around his feet.

Vlad turned around but the front window smashed in, courtesy of the big red bear. Vlad started to change but the paw hit its mark mid transformation.

Tomowashi pulled the door off and leaned into grab Danny.

"I appreciate you dropping in like this, but I got to say twang you later." Danny blasted the buckle and the belt snapped into his attacker's face.

A hand pulled him back, though the car door. A small sound leapt from his throat as his good swung around, to hit nothing.

"Daniel, I am on your side. Run home. I will take care of this little problem."

Vlad dropped him on the ground and flew into Tomowashi, knocking her off balance. Then he flung her into the bear.

No way was he staying out of this fight. It was too dangerous to bring home. 

Danny started to transform when something solid hit the back of his head. 


	10. Chapter 10

_Darkness had fallen, and not even the servants were about. He avoided the guards with ease, passing as a shadow when one came too near._

_The heavy scent of dragons filled the air as he entered the stables. No guards were needed here as the dragons would flame any who should not be there._

_One raised her head and blinked sleepily as he passed. "Hush my beauty; I am here for a friend."_

_She let her head drop down and puffed a small cloud of smoke. A red scare shone angrily on her neck, reminding him of his mission._

_He grabbed the saddle from the room across from the stables and slipped into the one holding the silver dragon. "Zenos's, it's time."_

_The massive one stirred, stretching his great wings that bushed the ceiling. Opening one eye he nudged his human counter part._

_"Stop it." he grabbed the silver head and looked deep into blue eyes, "Tonight we strike."_

_Slipping under the scared forepaw, he quietly placed the saddle upon the back and set to work adjusting straps for his dragon's comfort._

_"Danny?" He froze mid air, hand gently placed on the shoulder strap. He willed Zenos to act as if nothing were amidst, but it was too late._

_She slipped behind the forepaw and stair up at him. "Are you going to fight them?"_

_He floated down and landed next to her, drinking in her violet dress and matching eyes. He wanted to stay and forget about everything, the war, the carnage, but if he did, the battle would come to them anyway. Everything he loved would be destroyed._

_"I have to. Too many have already died. Don't worry, I'll be back."_

_"What if you don't come back?" Worry filled her face._

_He wanted to take the burden off her shoulders; however, he knew he may never come back. In fact he didn't really plan to, as long as_ _their leader was dead._

_"I'll be back. But if you have something to say to me, now would be a good time."_

_For a moment, the only sound that could be heard was the heavy breathing of dragons. Then she threw her arms around him._

_"Just do what needs to be done."_

That head ache was back. When he tried to raise a hand to his head he found it stuck. Then he attempted to sit up. A crunch came from his cast and there seemed to be something holding him down.

"Don't bother trying to escape. You can't."

'Oh great, the crazy girl. Wait that means that Vlad couldn't handle them. Crap.'

Candles were the only lighting in the room. Other than that it was darker than Sam's room.

"The walls are a foot deep of stone and have sealing spells all over. I'm sitting in front of the only exit. Even if you did manage to get up, you would have to go though me and the rest of the order."

'Why do the bad guys always have to rant about how cool they are?' "So why am I here?"

The girl gave him a wicked smile, "You'll find out soon enough."

---

"Damn it!" The table broke in half under his hands.

"Not my fault this time.' Skulker said as he dragged Vlad back down into the chair.

"I know that! Where did they take him?" he tried to pull away from the bandages.

"Up North. You need rest. With those injures, going after him will only get you captured too. And would you stop fidgeting!"

"I know better than to fight like this, unlike some." He shot the elf a glare yet settled anyway. "However, if they think I'm rushing in head first, then I might be able to create an opening for a pawn."

"That was your evil plot voice, what exactly do you have in mind?'

---

Valerie raced down the halls. Mr. Masters told her there would be little time; she'd have to be in and out without notice. However that didn't mean she was not without insurance.

She was packing a hand gun that masters told her not to "Point at anything you don't what in a million pieces." She liked the sound of that. Several other items were on her person that packed a wallop.

Despite the weapons, she had only one mission: save Danny.

---

_The ground rushed up to meet them as they landed. He dismounted with a soft clunk. Tonight would be the night. He pulled out a black ring and slid it onto his finger and then entered the gates alone, his steed free to leave._

_The stony halls were dark except for the candles and the waning moon shining in though the slits of window. Even though it was silent, he knew they were_ _here, he could feel them._

_Seals etched in blood were on the walls, making it impossible to employ his usual tactics. Not that he planed on relying on them._

_At the center of the structure, he met his foe._

Those dreams would not leave him alone. The room came back into focus and he heard foot steps. He was trying to remember more of his dream when he saw him.

"It's been a long time, hasn't it Daniel?" it was like a mirror, one he could not look away from. "You recognize me? Good you were the one to do this to me, trapped me in this worthless body thousands of years ago."

_He didn't even bother to draw his sword; the spell would be enough. The dark shadow was barely recognizable as humanoid, it's body seemingly made of black water, a monster, his foe. In a rush of rapids, it lunged for him but he nimbly dodged to the side._

_He raised his hand and a dark aura glowed from the ring._

"You thought you could kill me, and you nearly did. At the last moment I stole your body, you underestimated me."

_Thronos, the god of death, appeared. A Phoenix perched on his right shoulder and a scythe of steel in his left hand. Black robes billowed around him, yet the air was still._

_The silver blade cut thought the air and darkness fell._

"I did not die, but I remained stuck in this weak shell until such a time I could use the counter part of you spell and call upon Gaia, the goddess of life."

Danny felt himself shutter. Who knew how old the guy was, and the spell sounded like trouble. "No, I won't let you."

"How are you going to stop me? Everything is exactly were I need it to be. Not even Plasmas can stop me, and his forces are trying as we speak. No ghost can penetrate my fortress. Soon the world will bow before the Twilight Order, and we will rule in our immortal bodies forever. No longer will we be feel the bane of our half-lives, we will be free to create as much chaos as we wish."

"Dude, you are one seriously crazed up fruit loop." he couldn't help it; he had lost all respect for the take over the world people. Fighting evil ghosts everyday did that to a guy.

"You still don't remember? I had hoped to see the agony on your face when you realized that your noble sacrifice was for nothing."

He leaned down to kissing his prey's lips and then whispered into his ear. "Good-bye Daniel."

The scream echoed though out the dungeon.


	11. Chapter 11

(Skulker, dragging a hapless little blonde tied up girl behind him. ) 

Skulker: Now write.

SS: How can I if you have me tied up.

Skulker: Find a way.

SS: Why are YOU bugging me anyway?

Skulker: Clockwork told me that you were looking for a new muse and you needed a good motivator. Well here I am! Turns to readers Oh and I'm charging 25 cents per mauling, so come and get it.

SS: What!

Skulker: Well you haven't updated this one in forever, and you left it on such a bad cliff hanger, I'm sure lots of people will pay. I'll be rich!

SS: Clockwork!

---

It echoed throughout the halls, filling the very air. It was a sound like nothing she had ever heard before, causing the earth to shudder. There was no time for fear, she raced to the source.

Even after it had faded, the halls vibrated with after shock.

She almost raced into a room of death, but the energy in the air stopped her. The area was filled with a dark presents that seemed to draw her in. A slab of stone stood center piece in the room, with her friend on it, panting. A man dressed in black robes had a knife ready to strike.

"No!" that mini gun whipped out of her belt and she fired away. She hit the wall.

'Maters wasn't kidding.' she could see her target smoldering against the wall which was now slightly concaved.

"Valerie!" Danny was struggling to get up, but heavy chains held him down.

She rushed over to him, "Are you alright?" She looked down and tried to pull them off.

"I'm fine, can you blast it off?" Danny looked over at the smoldering ash.

"I can try, but I don't want to hurt you." She frowned, pulling out another gun.

"As long as it's not like the other one, I think I'll survive." He grinned.

'How can he be so calm? It's like this has happened far too many times to count, and now he's so used to it, it's like it's not even happening. Maybe he thinks this is a dream.' She found a gun that was hopeful the right power and aimed carefully. "You sure there is not a key?"

"No time. Fire!"

She closed her eyes and the chain hit the ground with a heavy clunk and she felt relief flood her system. Then a sudden jerk pulled the gun from her hand and three more clunks followed suit.

"What was that for! You could have hurt yourself." She raged at him. He could have blasted of a limb, and goodness knows that would make things hard.

"No time, we have to…"

A grating crack interrupted them. Valerie turned, "Oh my god, that thing is still alive!"

Valerie froze, unable to move as the thing fell from the wall and stood slowly. Pushing back its hood she saw its half blackened face, or rather Danny's face. A high pitched scream priced the air.

It wasn't until Danny forcefully dragged her out the door that she realized that it was her screaming.

There was not any talk as they ran, all the oxygen was now being used to pump their legs out of there. 'Was that some kind of demon?' She wasn't sure she wanted to find out. 'Why did it have Danny's face? Oh God, am I going to live though this.'

A crash from behind them made them both go a little faster. Another turn and suddenly Danny was no longer with her. Skidding to a stop she rounded the corner again. Her friend was lifted in the air by his neck by that thing. His legs were kicking at the charred body, and she could she bone from where his foot scraped off.

"You can't kill me; I was never alive to begin with. You're the reason I'm in this husk of a body, and now you're going to give back what you took from me."

Danny was in the way of her blasting range, so she could only wait for an opening that never came. Instead her friend did something unexpected, he screamed.

Now if she were under the same circumstances, she would have screamed too, but this was like the one from earlier. It sent the two apart, the demon crashing into the wall, and Danny, into her.

"Thanks for catching me."

"What was that?"

"Nothing. Heh, do you know the way out of here?" Danny pulled her to her feet, and rubbed the back of is head, blushing.

'He's distracting me. Trying to hide something form me. Maybe it has something to do with his, powers? Is he some kind of shaman, siren thing? Ah heck, why not, Amity Parks full of ghosts, we are fighting some kind of demons just to get out of here, and Masters has some kind of mind powers. He does come from a family of ghost hunters, why no give them hidden powers too?'

"Well?"

"Yeah, this way. You don't think he'll get back up, do you?"

"Actually I'm pretty sure he will." Danny dropped his head and lowered his voice. "He's like the others, impossibly strong and hard to kill. I think that this is one I'm just going to leave to Cheese head, he seems to know what's going on."

"You fought them before?" Valerie was no longer surprised, it made sense, yet that only added a hundred questions.

"How bout we just get out of here?"

---

Vlad was waiting at the front gate. Danny glared at him. He would have forced Vlad to give him a few answers right then and there, if Valerie hadn't let out a startled gasp behind him.

"Mr. Masters, what are you doing here?" Valerie stepped forward, and Danny wanted to pull her back, away from the fruit loop.

"As soon as there was and opening, I came down to pick you up. I tried to get in, but it seems that there was some kind of barrier. They must have detected you."

'A likely story.' thought Danny. 'He just let Valerie do all the dirty work for him. I ought to strangle him for putting someone else in danger, not to mention dangerously close to my secret.'

"I was detected, he nearly killed Danny. And…" Tears stated brimming at her eyes. A silent exchange passed between Danny and Vlad. The older was the first to react.

"Now Valerie, why don't we put some distance between us and that horrible dungeon, you can tell us in the car."

---

The clock stuck three, and Maddie Fenton had once again taken up to pacing. She had previously attempted to bake cookies, tinker with weapons, and read, but nothing could keep her worried mind occupied. Vlad was supposed to be back with Danny hours ago. She burned the cookies, but Jack was now happily munching on them, he didn't mind cleaning up a little.

The last call had been somewhere around eleven, over eleven hours ago. There was no way Danny had been asleep that long, and if he was, surly Vlad would have woken him. After four, she had been attempting to get a hold of them on the hour. The phone was never picked up. She took out the phone to try again.

"Maddie," Jack had been watching this charade for the better half of the day. He hated seeing his wife so upset. It was he who redirected Jazz out of the house to prevent a psychoanalysis. Maybe using the Fenton Ghost Ecto Extractor as a guise wasn't the best of ideas, but it worked.

"Don't worry so much, V-man always keeps his word. He'll bring in Danny safe and sound, as promised." He grinned to himself. Vlad had been his best buddy forever, and never once had he let him down. Jack knew he could count on Vlad with his very soul and darkest secrets if need be. They knew each their like the back of their own hands, and nothing could break a bond like that. Not even a certain car crash in collage.

Maddie on the other hand didn't seem to fell that way, "He's lying to us Jack! I can feel it in my bones. Danny's in trouble, trouble far bigger than he can handle."

"He's not lying, just not telling the full truth. It's the way he is, and let's leave it at that. Your smart Maddie, you can figure out what he's saying, and he knows that. That why he does it." Jack couldn't help but hum to himself. He loved them both dearly, but really, one of these days…

"What is it then?" Maddie slumped looking defeated.

"How should I know, you're the one who's good at riddles, beside you hold more of the pieces. Tell me when you figure it out." they all may have know each other life themselves, but didn't mean that Jack knew everything. But he liked to keep things simple; fight when needed, eat, sleep, spend time with family and friends, hunt ghosts. No dancing around the subject, no secrets, no magic mumbo jumbo. It was everyone else who like to make things complicated. That was fine by him, they'd tell him when the time was right, till then he'd keep hacking his own path.

"Jack…"

A knock came at the door. Maddie raced to it, hurriedly opening it, and Jack smiled. 'Yep, and V-man come though again.' Maddie hugged her son who said something along the lines of, "not now mom, your embarrassing me."

'I'll tease her about it later.' "V-man, come on in! We have cookies, they are a little burn, but don't mind that. I'll make some tea and hot coco!"

"I apologize for the lateness, I got a little caught up in an emergency, and we were later than expected. I was on my way down when I got the page, left my cell at where I'm staying."

"No worries. Come in and rest up a bit, the guest room is open to ya." Jack threw an arm around his friend, perhaps too hard.

"Thank you Jack, if I could take young Daniel to bed, it would be greatly appreciated." Vlad slipped under the larger man and guided the sleepy boy upstairs.

Maddie looked over at Jack, "See what I mean?"

Jack just grinned.

---

"Now are you going to explain yourself?"

"All in good time Daniel. What is important is that nobody finds out about our little adventure humm. Valerie will not say a word; she believes that they wanted you for you powers, which is true." Vlad fiddled with a lap top, pulling up reports.

"Who was that guy? Are they coming back?"

"The one that looked like you? Never seen him. Their leader keeps a low profile, would probably go after you and Valerie both if he could recover just because you have seen his face. I have several teams out over the area; after we left I had the whole site bombed." Some soft typing brought up a picture of what looked like a death zone.

"That thing took two of my strongest attacks, and whatever you gave Valerie and it didn't die. Why did you send her in? Are you stupid?"

"Only a human could get through the barrier, and human with no powers."

"Arg you arrogant prick! Don't smirk at me like that! She could have been hurt! Or worst dead! I ought to…"

"Not so loud, we do not want to have to explain ourselves. Not even your friends are aloud to know of this. Understand?"

"What!" Danny was on the death throws now, broken arm or not, he was going to tear the cheese head apart so many ways…

"We don't want any chance that this may slip. None. We are keeping this to as few people as humanly possible. Not only would your mother be furious, if this ever got out to the press, it would cause world wide panic, and experiments, lots of painful experiments."

"Fine, I won't tell anyone anything." Danny crossed his arms glaring.

"Good. Well then, you are safe and sound, which means I can leave. Goodbye Daniel."

---

And so the next day at school, Danny could be seen with his best friends at either side.

Sam leaned over, a piece of salad on her fork. "So, how did you break your arm?"

"Ahh, A fight. Everything's taken care of."

"Everything?" Sam stared at him for a long moment.

"Yep. Don't worry, it's already mostly healed. In a week or so, I'll be able to fight with that arm again."

"Alright! Who's up for nasty Burgers after school?" Tucker jumped up.

Sam sighed. She knew there was more than that going on, but the truth was if Danny said it was taken care of, it probably was. "Fine but no meat."

"But that's the best part!"

"Danny, tell him that meat is just grows."

"I'm staying out of this one."


	12. Chapter 12

SS: Epilogue time. It's short, and sweet.

Skulker: Just like you, or a least the short part.

SS: I hate you.

Skulker: Mauling is still available, because the ending sucks. 25 cents per person, and I'm also selling popcorn to spectators.

SS: It's supposed to be like an episode, you never move forward, everything goes back to normal. 

---

Vlad sat in his usual study, content with himself. Things may not have gone according to plan, but the boy trusted him a little more. 'Soon Daniel, you will know the truth, but for now, enjoy your ignorance.'

"Masters, we were unable to locate the leader and some of the upper underlings." the ghost to inform him was shaking like a leaf.

"Get Skulker on it. I want their remains, they are too dangerous to be left loss amongst the world."

"Yes sir." 


End file.
